


Opposing Counsel

by thusspokebianca



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, Karolsen (secondary), Lucy is a little shit, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sanvers - Freeform, Sanvers Endgame, Slow Burn, lawyer AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-06-21 04:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15549774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thusspokebianca/pseuds/thusspokebianca
Summary: Alex Danvers is a hotshot at National City’s most prestigious law firm. She usually takes on high profile cases, defending celebrities or representing big money.Maggie Sawyer is a district attorney and transferred from Gotham to National City six months ago, trying to escape corruption, vigilante justice and an angry ex-girlfriend.Whenever they meet in court, their different attitudes collide and tension runs high. They absolutely hate each other.But things seem to change when Alex surprises Maggie by defending a vigilante charged with murder - and does it pro bono.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is either from Alex's or Maggie's POV, starting with Alex.
> 
> Big shoutout to my betas and everyone who gave me advice/feedback, or hyped me up. You guys are the best.
> 
> Please share on Twitter with #SanversLawyerAU

This could’ve been easy. 

Alex had prepared Daren Michaels as well as she could for this trial. They had practiced his testimony until he didn't sound like a rambling idiot when he gave a recollection of the night he was pulled over in his flashy sports car, and taken into custody for possession of drugs when the cops found a neatly packed ounce of cocaine in his glove compartment. 

Alex had managed to create doubt in the credibility of the arresting officer. She threw him a few curveballs during cross-examination causing him to contradict his initial report. What an amateur, really. Alex wondered if this was the first time Officer Henderson had to give testimony in court. To the jury he probably seemed like an overeager bully who was more interested in breaking the precinct’s arrest record than anything else. 

Michaels handled himself rather well on the stand, he remembered to make eye contact with the judge and a few of the jurors. He spoke calmly and conveyed an aura that was charming, if maybe a little oblivious - someone who, for all things considered could’ve been set up by a jealous ex-girlfriend or fellow student, but surely not a drug dealer.

Of course, Daren Michaels was no way near as innocent as he appeared right in that moment on the witness stand. He was a spoilt rich kid attending business school at NCU and by Alex’s definition the embodiment of a privileged straight white man, who never had to fight for anything in his life and handled problems by throwing money at it.

This wasn’t any different. His father made sure he had the best legal representation money could buy - her. Alex was proud of her reputation, she had fought hard to get where she was - junior partner in National city’s most prestigious law firms. And she was willing to win this case despite her dislike of these people, by all legal means necessary.

They were here on what was hopefully the last day of trial, only one remaining witness testimony, closing statements and they’d be done with it.

This could’ve been easy had it not been for that pesky District Attorney Maggie Sawyer. The woman had been a nuisance ever since she showed up in National City six months ago. The prosecution’s new girl quickly earned a reputation as being smart, tough and charming. Everyone seemed to like her right away - judges, jurors, even her opposing counsel. Everyone - except Alex.

Alex hated everything about ADA Maggie Sawyer. Well, not everything. She had to admit how drop-dead gorgeous she was with the perfect long soft hair - Was it soft? It seemed soft. It probably smelled really nice, too - tan skin, a really nice butt and those dimples. Alex was too gay, not to notice.

But everything else about the woman was absolutely infuriating.

The first time she met Sawyer in court ended with Alex losing the first case in over 19 months. After that trial, Sawyer threw her a dimpled smile and a mocking “See you around, Danvers.” The audacity of that woman.

This could’ve been easy. An easy day, an easy trial, but Sawyer seemed determined to rain on her parade. They had just heard the testimony of the last witness, one of Michael’s fellow students and fraternity brothers, Arron Collins. He was supposed to attest to her client's good character, and high sense of responsibility and love for golden retriever puppies. The jury ate it up. But Sawyer’s cross examination caused him to stumble over his own words and get entangled in contradictions. The kid clearly didn’t work well under pressure.

Before Alex knew it her calls of “Objection!” and “Leading question, your honor!” turned into a screaming match between her and Sawyer. Completely forgetting that this was a courtroom, not a battlefield, they stood only a few feet apart yelling and glaring at each other, hands balled into fists, chest heaving and faces flushed with anger until Judge Fremont finally had enough.

“Order, order!” he yelled. “Councillors approach the bench. Now!” Alex just now realised how this must’ve looked. She hurried up to the bench, eyes cast to the ground while a flush of embarrassment replaced the anger.

“Sorry, your honor…” Alex’s apology was cut off.

“Now look, if you’re going to behave like this and keep displaying such little respect, I will have both of you removed from this courtroom and put in a cell. This is not a reality tv show. Neither of you make a compelling case, by shouting.”

“Your honor,” Sawyer began, but was again cut off by Judge Fremont.

“Mr Collins, you may leave the stand. This court is adjourned. We will reconvene on Friday at 9am for closing statements, hopefully in a much calmer fashion,” he announced emphasising the last part.

Alex stepped back from the bench turning to move back to her table as her eyes caught the court clerk, Veronica - or something, smirking and quickly adverting her eyes. Perfect, this was just perfect. The courthouse gossips would have a field day with this. Again.

Alex could not get out of that stuffy room fast enough, rounding the corner to the exit without looking up from her phone sending off a text to J’onn to let him know how it went. “Adjourned till Friday,” she typed. Before she had a chance to look up again she walks into something solid, or rather someone. Yeah, she should’ve paid attention to where she was walking, but really, she was in a hurry and this was a hallway, where people walk and not idly stand in the way.

“What the actual fuck, Alex?” came Lucy Lane’s voice with a clear hint of annoyance as she bent down to pick up the case files she had dropped. It took Alex a while to realize she had bumped into her best friend.

“Lucy? Fuck. I’m sorry. I was, just, ugh. I didn’t see you there,” she rambled, and moving to help Lucy pick up the case files.Why was she caring those around the courthouse anyway, wasn’t that literally what they paid paralegals for? This Mike, or Mark or whatever, really was a useless loaf of white bread.

Lucy’s demeanor quickly changed, when she saw how wound up Alex was. “Sawyer get to you, again?”

“I swear to god, one day, I’ll just…” Alex huffed. “What, bend her over the table and have mind-blowing hate sex?” Lucy supplied with a smirk.

“What? I – what? No!” Alex spluttered, her face flushing furiously. She peeked over her shoulder to make sure no one has heard Lucy’s absurd suggestion.

“I can’t stand her. She’s such a pain in the ass,” she protested.

Feeling like she needed to explain herself further Alex added, in a tone she hoped sounded like she hadn’t thought about it before, “She’s hot, but she’s just so infuriating.”

“Whatever,” Lucy shrugged. Alex wasn’t sure if Lucy was really willing to let it slide that easily, but for now it seemed like it.

“Hey, you wanna go get drinks tonight?”

“Can’t. I promised Kara, to not skip sister night again. She’s made sure to text me all week, so I won’t forget. What about Friday night though?”

“Sounds fine to me.” Lucy checked her watch, “Well, I better get going. Lots to get done,” she motioned at the files and turned to walk to walk away, before asking “Oh, hey, do you mind if I ask Vasquez to join us?”

“Oh, not at all. The more the merrier, right?”

Alex wondered what was going on between her best friend and the firm’s new investigator. Where they a thing? She made a mental note to ask her about it.

She glanced back at her phone to see yet another text message from Kara reminding her of sister night and asking if she could pick up pizza from the Italian place next to the courthouse.

“You got it. See you in a bit,” she sent back.

 

\- - - - - - 

 

Before Alex could even knock, Kara swung her apartment door wide open. “Finally!” she exclaimed, taking the pizza box from Alex.

“I swear it’s like you can see through walls or have a heightened sense of smell, like a weird superpower to sense food from half a mile away.” Alex joked while she was kicking off her shoes and taking off her blazer, relaxing for the first time that day.

“It’s just good intuition, is all,” Kara shrugged claiming the first pizza slice before putting the box on the coffee table. “Are you okay? You seem tired.”

“It was a long day and having to deal with Sawyer just made it that much worse.” 

“Ah, your nemesis. I’m sorry, she seems like a handful.”

“A handful,” Alex snorted. Sawyer was indeed a handful, but Kara didn't know about Maggie Sawyer being the butt of all of Alex’s short people jokes, so she waved her hand “Never mind. She’s just very persistently trying to make my life hell.”

“Isn’t she just doing her job?” Kara asked.

“Hell, Kara. Literal hell!”

After grabbing a beer from the fridge she plunged down on the couch next to Kara. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“What, I didn’t, well, no, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t spend every night of the week at the office.” Kara rambled.

Arching her eyebrows, Alex gave Kara a measured look “Okay. Well, what did you want to do, apart from stuffing our faces with pizza?”

Avoiding Alex’s eyes, Kara scrunched her face, causing a small crinkle to appear on her forehead. She took a deep breath, but didn’t voice the thoughts she seemed to be mulling over.

“Kara?” Alex asked softly. If any of the people who only knew her from court would see her talking to her little sister, they wouldn’t recognize her. Gone was the cold and unapproachable facade revealing a soft heart filled with love for someone she used to hate as a teenager.

They had gotten off on a rocky start when Kara came to live with them all these years ago. Things even seemed to take a turn for the worse, when Alex’s father passed away. Not knowing how to deal with all the grief and self-loathing she put up walls around her heart. It wasn’t until Alex’s second year in college that they got closer.

Alex had learned something about herself that scared her and feeling left alone in the world she turned to Kara. Her adoptive sister accepted her, loved her and told her she was proud of her, when she needed to hear it the most. Kara was there for her when she was vulnerable and anxious. Now they were inseparable, supporting each other with love, encouragements, hugs and food.

“Kara,” Alex pulled the blond into a hug, “you can tell me what’s going on.” Looking up with her blue eyes, looking like the human embodiment of a puppy she was, Kara released a breath before starting to speak with uncertainty in her voice.

“It’s just, I know you’re super busy and I don’t want to bother you with my small problems.” 

“Kara, come on. You’re not bothering me. Not ever.” Alex interjected. “You’re my sister and yes, I have a lot going on at work, but I still want to know that you’re alright and what’s going on in your life.” Kara’s eyes sparkled with gratitude. Grabbing another slice of pizza, she sat up on the couch, legs crossed and contemplated how to start.

“Is it something at work?” Alex provided.

“Yes, actually.”

“Is Snapper still being a jerk?”

“Yes, that too,” Alex rolled her eyes at that. She respected the guy’s work at the Tribune and his integrity as a journalist - especially in these times, but his people skills left something to be desired. Even more so than her own.

“It’s just. I’ve been working there for two years and, don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy writing for the lifestyle section. But I want to be an investigative journalist. I want to write about things that actually matters, not just cakes and puppies,” Kara whined.

“Hey, you love cakes and puppies.” Alex grinned as Kara scrunched her forehead in an attempt to look offended.

“I do, but I also want to be taken seriously,” Kara huffed out before taking another big bite from her pizza. 

Alex leaned forward to grab a slice before Kara ate the entire pizza by herself, because she totally would. She waited until Kara was done chewing before asking, “Well did you ask for other assignments?”

“I did.”

“So?”

“Apparently there’s this charity gala thing he wants me to cover.”

“But, that’s great. Isn’t it?” Alex wasn’t sure, if Kara was excited. 

“I don’t know. It’s a puff piece about Lena Luthor.”

That name rang a bell, “Luthor? As in…”

“Lex Luthor, yeah, she’s his sister.” 

“Oh,” was all Alex replied after taking a bite of her pizza slice processing the information. She remembered the story being all over the news. The former CEO of Luthor Corp had gone completely insane and created a biological weapon to wipe out aliens. That lunatic ran a multi-billion dollar company and believed in aliens. He was sentenced to a lifetime in prison for exposing dozens of people to his anti-alien virus in tests for what he claimed was a new flu vaccine. Alex had followed the trial. She remembered his mother, a woman likely just as xenophobic and ruthless as her son, but less bonkers.

“She’s taken over the family company and rebranded it – it’s now called LCorp, and she moved the headquarters from Metropolis to National City to get a fresh start,” Kara explained.

“That’s probably a smart move. Though, I’m not sure people will be able to see past her family name. What if it’s the same as before in a new place and a new face?” Alex didn’t believe in judging a book by its cover, but there was something about growing up with a family like this, that had to rub off in some way.

“Well,” Kara shrugged. “She said she wants to make LCorp a force of good and she’s giving lots of money to different community programs. She donated medical equipment to the National City Children’s Hospital and now she’s raising money for refugees with this charity gala next week.”

“Hm, well, I’ll guess we’ll see soon enough. And you’ll get a first-hand impression, whether or not she seems like the type to follow in her brother’s footsteps.” It sounded cynical. Trying to lighten the mood, Alex searched her mind for happier and lighter topics. Remembering what, or rather who Kara didn’t shut up about the last time they sat together on this couch.

“Oh hey, what about that photographer guy you met at work, what was his name, uh, Jimmy Olsen?”

“He prefers James,” Kara corrected her eyes sparkling and her cheeks blushing a soft pink. “I don’t really know. We had so much fun talking at work and he was the one to ask me out – twice, but both dates kinda went sideways.”

“How so?”

“He received a work call during the first one, asked for the check, apologized a half dozen times and then ran off.”

“Hm.”

“And then on the second date, we we’re supposed to go see the Mamma Mia 2 and he didn’t show up until halfway through the movie. I mean, okay, we did get drinks and talk afterwards, and it was really nice, but something just seems off.”

Intending not to scare her sister will all the possible explanations Alex tried to calm Kara down, “He’s got a busy job and if he’s willing to watch preppy musicals with you, he seems like he’s genuinely interested.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. You’re amazing, Kara. He’d be crazy not to like you.” Kara beamed at Alex. “I don’t know, let him know that you had a good time and, maybe you ask him out on the third date. Third time’s the charm, or whatever.” Using the opportunity while Kara absently smiled to herself, Alex grabbed the last slice of pizza.

“Rude!”

“Oh shut up, you had like eight. Eight!”

“But it’ not fair. I’m still hungry,” Kara whined dramatically.

“You’re always hungry, you weirdo. You eat like a teenage boy and don’t’ gain any weight. That’s what’s not fair” Alex threw back.

“Fine, I’ll starve then,” Alex rolled eyes at Kara’s antics. “Well, should I help you text James or do you wanna watch reruns of The Practice and point out all the flaws?”

“Let’s watch the show,” Kara hurried to get out. While stretching her hand to reach the remote control without leaving her comfortable spot on the couch, Kara turned to Alex, ”It’s more about the personal drama than accuracy, you know? It’s supposed to be entertaining, not put people to sleep.”

“Whatever,” Alex huffed. The law was not boring and certainly didn’t put people to sleep. Recalling what happened at court earlier and feeling her heart rate speed up at the memory, she thought it had quite the opposite effect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's first POV chapter with a glimpse at her friendship with M'gann and a lot of backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the sweet comments to the first chapter, they really motivated me to keep writing. Hope you like where this is going.

Maggie lounged on the couch in her studio apartment wearing her most comfortable sweatpants and an old Barenaked Ladies shirt she got at a concert during her junior year in college. She was scrolling through her Netflix list trying to find something to watch that was enough of a distraction but didn’t demand too much of her attention. She settled on a random baking show.

One of the contestants, Gordon, had just presented his toffee and pretzels cheesecake to the judges and they were making satisfied little noises as they savored the sweet and salty taste. Maggie’s mouth was watering too. She got up and walked over to the fridge to check if there was still some peanut butter ice cream left. Sadly there wasn’t. So she moved to get a beer instead. Then she stopped herself and dropped her hand.

It was only half past nine and she contemplated having a drink at her favorite bar instead. Chat with M’gann, maybe even flirt with the cute waitress she knew usually had the Wednesday night shift.

Before she could overthink, she closed the fridge, turned off her TV, changed into dark blue skinny jeans, a grey henley and her favorite leather jacket. She felt good dressed like herself. Sure she liked the blazers and suits she wore to court and they certainly had the desired effect, but this was more like her.

She wished she could just stroll into the courtroom like this on Friday, or ride in on her newly fixed Triumph Bonneville T100. She knew a few people would be gushing and swooning. It would surely shut Alex Danvers up and wipe that smug look off of her face. Chuckling to herself she grabbed her keys and walked out of her apartment.

It was a fifteen minute walk to Ripples. She had discovered the place in her third week in National City trying to find a place to unwind far away from the usual lawyer hangouts. Her coworkers had invited her for drinks at The Federal a couple of times, but that crowd wasn’t for her. She spent enough hours of her days with them as it was. No need to share her personal time as well.

She walked into the bar. Greeting a few regulars she recognized and crossing the room and walking past Kevin who was trying to teach some girl with blue hair how to play darts. She sat down on a stool right at the bar smiling at M’gann, her favorite bartender.

“Didn’t expect to see you here today.” 

“It was sorta spontaneous,” Maggie replied.

“Ah,” M’gann regard her with soft eyes. “I have just the right thing for the day you’ve had.”

Pouring Maggie two fingers of Scotch and sling the glass over to her.

“Huh,” tilted her head to the side in surprise. “You know, sometimes I really believe you can actually read minds.”

M’gann chuckled, “It’s just good intuition, that’s all. It comes with the job.”

“Are you sure you’re not secretly a telepathic being from outer space?” Maggie joked. “You can tell me. I’ll keep your secret. Scouts honor” She raised three fingers.

“Oh, you got me,” M’gann placed her index and middle fingers on her temples eager, closed her eyes tightly, and started humming. “Hm, I see a redhead.”

“Shut up,” Maggie waved her hands dismissively.

“But I’m right, am I not?”

Maggie rolled her eyes and took a sip from her drink. Buying herself some time before she had to reply to M’gann’s question, she looked at the amber liquid swirling it around in the glass.

She had trouble putting a finger on why she despised Alex Danvers so much. Maggie thought back to the first time she had met her in court. It was a simple DUI case which Maggie won.

She had learned three things about Danvers that day.

One, she is stubborn as hell, but Maggie couldn’t really fault her for that. Yes, fighting fiercely for them, was what her clients paid for, but she clearly took it way too far.

Two, she is a sore loser. Maggie had walked over after her victory and made some cocky remarks that left Danvers looking confused and angry. Brian had told her later that Danvers had not lost a case in a rather long time and that she probably didn’t take it too well. He was right. The next time they stood on opposing sides of a courtroom and Danvers pulled out the big guns ready to demolish her.

Three, she is drop-dead gorgeous. The way she looked in that dark blue suit, with the black shirt, killer heels, that short red hair - oh, she clearly had a type - and her sharp features. It took Maggie a moment to remind herself that she was a professional and chase away fantasies that had a blush creeping up her neck and stop her eyes from raking up and down her body. 

But attractive - or not, her petty behavior and her questionable morals defending the worst of the worst as long as they had money and the case earned publicity, earned Danvers a place on Maggie’s bad side. And with her antics at court today, this didn’t seem to change anytime soon.

“Danvers is just, ugh, she’s the worst. Literally! Like, you know real life devil’s advocate!” Maggie felt that sounded dramatic, but it was true.

M’gann gave her a wistful look, her eyes encouraging Maggie to go on.

“And then today,” Maggie was embarrassed about losing control like this in court. They had argued before but not like this. “It just gets worse every time, and I swear, one of these days I'm just gonna explode.”

“Sounds like you both need to calm down, maybe, I don’t know, talk it out, or I don’t know, get a drink, make a truce, whatever it is you lawyers do” M'gann’s suggestion seemed reasonable enough, but she couldn’t imagine Alex Danvers ever agreeing to not fight with everything she had. She’d probably consider it a victory that Maggie gave in. No chance in hell.

“I don’t think that would work,” she replied and drowned the last sip of her drink.

“You don’t have to go and become best friends and braid each other’s hair, but this situation seems exhausting and very cliché.” She held up the bottle of scotch, “Want another round?”

“No, it’s late. I should get going again.”

“Okay, sure. It was good to see you, Maggie, and I’m always here for you if you need to vent.”

Maggie smiled. She was grateful for M’gann’s words, even though she felt like listening to people vent was part of the requirement of being a bartender.

“Oh, by the way, Darla switched her schedule. She works on Thursday nights now, not Wednesday nights,” M’gann winked at her. “Just in case you were wondering.” A telepath. Clearly. M’gann could read minds and no one could convince her otherwise.

She got up, left generous tip on the counter, smiled and walked out into the warm September night.

 

\- - - - - - - - 

 

Maggie got to the office early the next morning. She walked down the hallway to her office, soy vanilla latte that she had picked up at the cute little coffee shop on Broadway and Junipero in one hand, and a few case files in the other.

Paralegals, assistants and another new prosecutor who had started two months ago, Tara, were already buzzing around, carrying files, making calls, or typing furiously. It was never quiet in here. Most of them worked in cubicles in the main office space. The place was cramped. But Maggie was lucky. She had her own office, with her own door. Though, she usually left it wide open, because it was a windowless room the size of a shoebox and she was afraid she might suffocate if she ever closed that door.

There was some chatter near the coffee machine. Apparently the National City Dolphins had lost to the Metropolis Tigers 5 to 7 in the ninth inning and now had almost no chance of getting to the playoffs. Great, she thought, she owed Dan ten bucks.

Maggie carefully put the files on top of the already fairly big pile on her desk. She would never get through all of these and prepare her closing statement for the current trial even if her day had 48 hours, she sighed.

Maggie looked at her notes for tomorrow, the last day of Michael’s trial and decided to start with that and then randomly select files from the pile, hoping the whole thing wouldn’t collapse on her. It felt a lot like playing Office Jenga.

Before diving in she checked the news on her phone. Scrolling past an announcement of Lena Luthor’s charity gala, and an ad for a quiz to determine what her secret super power would be, based on which cat meme she selected. She was tempted, but scrolled past it for now. 

A report about a gas station robbery in one of the shadier neighborhoods caught her eye. She read the recollection of the elderly store clerk who praised a masked crusader who overpowered the thug pointing a gun at him. According to the article the guy knocked out and then handcuffed the robber to a railing outside the store and left him for the cops to be picked up. 

There was a still from a video surveillance video of a tall man in, what looked like a half-assed Iron Man cosplay. Beneath the article was a poll for the readers to decide what this new hero should be called. Guardian was currently in the lead with 47 percent of the votes, followed by a few even more ridiculous sounding options. Maggie rolled her eyes so hard, it hurt. She put her phone away to avoid any distractions and got to work.

Saying she disapproved of vigilante justice was a gross understatement. She was desperately hoping this wasn’t going to get out of hand the way it did in Gotham. People called these amateurs heroes, but all they really did was create chaos, commit crimes and get in the way.

If people cared about justice, they should try to follow the rules and work within the system, not outside or against it. That’s why she became a prosecutor - to fight for justice. It was her dream ever since she was a kid in Blue Springs, Nebraska. Though, back then she wanted to be a detective. Just like her dad.

Her father would’ve been so tremendously proud to see his only daughter follow in his footsteps. He would’ve been proud to see her now. He would’ve been so proud, had she not put that card in Eliza Wilke’s locker, confessing her feelings and inviting her to the school dance.

Instead of being proud of her, instead of loving her, her father looked at her with an unbearable amount of contempt in his eyes. He didn’t speak a single word as he left her on the side of the street in the middle of winter with nothing but a small suitcase and a broken heart and drove off, never to look back or talk to her again.

That was the worst time of her life. She cried for days, for weeks, but her tears of despair and rage dried and made place for determination. She picked herself back up. She would work hard and be the best, not for her dad, not for her family, for herself.

She finished high school top of her class, her aunt was the only family member who was one there for her graduation. She received a scholarship to study criminal justice and political science at the University of Chicago. She finished her undergrad program in three years and achieved top scores on her LSAT. She applied to Law School in Chicago, Metropolis and Gotham and was accepted by all of them.

She decided to stay in Chicago. A professor had offered an internship and later on a job as a paralegal in his law firm which not only earned her some extra money, but also valuable insights in the real world of litigation.

She quit after one year, her time there confirmed her belief that she should be on the other side of law, defending justice, not trying to find loopholes. She was happy where she was. She was proud of what she had achieved.

Her fight for justice was a good fight, not a self-righteous one, and vigilantes were a problem. They caused chaos and got in the way of actual police work. Gotham City and Star City, as of late, were prime examples of that.

True, there was corruption in Gotham, she had to admit as much. But she refused to call untrained amateurs who put on masks and gave themselves ridiculous names heroes. If they didn’t get themselves killed, others got caught in the crossfire. No, the true heroes where the honest people in the police force and public office, the people, who were trying to create change from within.

She had lost that fight in Gotham. She resisted bribery and made sure Joe Camillo got the life sentence he deserved. The mob wasn’t pleased. When her key witness turned up dead, floating in the Gotham River despite witness protection, with a clear warning that she was next she knew she had to leave for good.

There wasn’t much keeping her there anyway. Her relationship with Emily had fallen apart. All they had done for months was fight, and Maggie was upset, she had too much to drink and she slipped. She cheated. She confessed. Emily kicked her out.

She needed a new start in a new place far away from Gotham and her ex. She found it in National City. It seemed so bright and full of possibilities. It felt like breathing freely again for the first time in a long time.

Maggie had settled into her new life quickly. She loved her cute studio apartment. The neighborhood was vibrating with life and diversity. There was a park only two blocks away where she could go for runs. A little bakery on the corner tempted her with delicious pastries whenever she walked past it. Plus it was only a short drive to the office and the courthouse.

She was so focused she didn’t even notice that 4 hours had passed and it was already lunchtime. There was a knock at her door that made her jump. Brian leaned in to ask her if she was in on the office lunch order. Maggie decided she'd rather get some fresh air, so she opted to get lunch at one of the food trucks parked across the street.

She settled for a Chicago style vegan dog and sat down on a bench in the small park watching the people walking by and enjoying the rays of the September sun warming her skin.

Thirty minutes later she was back in her stuffy little office. The afternoon had passed in a haze of preparations for several other cases. One of them a cyber attack on National City First National Bank. Maggie scribbled a note on the file to consult Winn Schott about this, maybe even call him as an expert witness. The former IT guy turned white hat hacker worked as a freelancer for the Department of Justice and was one of the few friends she had made in town. They bonded over darts, craft beers and broken childhoods.

When Maggie was halfway through the pile of case files on her desk it was almost eight. Deciding to call it a day, since tomorrow was going to be tough she got up and stretched her hands above her head. She was one of the last ones still there. The main office floor was mostly empty. Only Ellen was still bent over her desk furiously scribbling down notes.

“See you tomorrow, Ellen,” Maggie called over as she walked out of the office. Ellen looked up to see where the voice came from and gave a small nod before focusing on her work again.

 

\- - - - - - - 

 

She wakes up before her alarm goes off on Friday morning. It’s still dark outside. She grabs her phone to check the time. It was only 6am. She sighs. It’s too early to get up, but her nerves won’t let her sleep much longer. She’s always a bit restless on court days. She’s been doing this for a few years, but that nervousness, that anticipation – it never faded. She’s grateful for it in a way. It keeps her alert.

So she decides to calm her nerves by going for a run. The fresh air would help her clear her mind and focus on the day ahead.

She gets back from her run an hour later. She takes a quick shower, eats a light breakfast - her signature sesame bagel double toasted. Oh, the crunchy goodness - to stop her stomach from growling and has a nice cup of steaming coffee. She was ready to take on the world – or at least Alex Danvers.

When she arrived in courtroom 1.15, Danvers and Michaels were already there, talking with hushed voices and looking far too smug. Maggie was determined to wipe that smirk of Danvers’ face and make sure Michaels at least for once in his privileged life had to deal with the consequences of his actions.

At nine o’clock sharp, the bailiff announced, “All rise. This court is now in session, the Honorable Judge William Fremont presiding.” Judge Fremont walked in and sat down on his bench. “Please, be seated.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also on Twitter as @thusspokebianca, if you wanna chat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's POV - Parental advice, clubbing, and gay disaster Alex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SANVERS IS ENDGAME, but this is a slow burn and they still pretty much hate each other, so they are not there yet and they will meet other people on the way. If you want to skip that, just stop reading when Lucy plays 'Have you met Alex?' You will miss what I hope is a fun scene, but nothing essential to the main plot.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?”

“Yes, your Honor,” the foreperson announced. “We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.”

Michaels jumped up in his seat beaming at Alex. She gave him a curt nod and shook his hand. She ignored his repeated thanks as she glanced over to the other table. The disbelief and annoyance evident on Sawyer’s face gave her more satisfaction than the fact that her client was cleared of all charges.

She had painted Michaels as the victim of circumstance in her closing statement not the drug dealer Sawyer was trying to sell to the jury. In the end there was enough doubt, the cocaine was his. So he would walk free with a white vest.

She got up to leave the courtroom after shaking Michaels’ hand yet again and wishing him good luck for the future. She was certain he’d need it.

Before she reached the door, Sawyer had caught up with her.

“That was some bullshit you fed that jury, Danvers,” she fumed.

“Well, you heard them - not guilty,” Alex replied. Feeling cocky she added, “Better luck next time, Sawyer.”

She walked away with a smirk on her face and a swagger in her step. More so than winning the case, it was Sawyer’s outrage that convinced Alex that today should be celebrated. She was looking forward to drinks with her best friend and her best friend’s - she still wasn’t sure what they were to each other - Vasquez. She sent off a text to Lucy informing her of her VICTORY!!! - in all caps and three exclamation marks - and that she was heading back to her office.

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Her good mood lasted exactly one hour and 13 minutes.

When she got back to her spacious new office in the 28th floor, with the floor to ceiling windows overlooking downtown National City. Three entire floors in the building were property of Davis, Edwood & O’Reilly or ‘DEO’ or as some marketing genius had rebranded it last year. She had only ever met two of the name partners during the whole time she had worked for the firm, Karen Davis and Thomas. There were wild tales of where or what Steven O’Reilly was. A nervous breakdown that left him hiding in his office in the 29th floor for most of the time he didn’t have to be in a courtroom seemed the most commonly and reasonable story - unless one believed in vampires or aliens.

She decided to give her mother a call. It had been so busy these last weeks, they hadn't spoken in over a month. Kara had a much better connection to her mother, which at the same time irritated and relieved Alex.

Her mother had all these expectations and Alex, never seemed to meet any of them. Kara on the other hand could do no wrong. It was frustrating and exhausting. Alex worked hard to be where she was, but Eliza still seemed to be disappointed.

Ever since her father had died, when she was only fifteen years old, it had been a struggle. Things got especially complicated when she changed her major after her freshman year of college. She had the mind of a scientist, but it somehow didn't feel like the right fit. Eliza didn't understand and made her disapproval known. Kara had to mediate at most family get-togethers ever since.

It had gotten better recently, but Eliza still found reasons to be disappointed. Her lack of a social life for one was a constant topic. Dating and a job that required her to work more than 60 hours a week was just really hard. She had tried, but her passion and commitment to her job - not the words her ex would use - seemed to be a problem.

But today she felt good, plus she still hadn’t told her mother that with J’onn’s support she was on track to becoming a junior partner. That had to impress Eliza.

It did not.

“Sweetie, that sounds great.” Alex sensed a ‘but’.

“But,” there it was, “are you… are you happy? I mean, representing these…” she trailed off.

Alex knew what words were swirling through her mother’s mind at the thought of her clients. She knew that not all of them were good people. That most of them were, whether it was their fault or not, involved in something shady, that some of them had done awful things. Or rather were accused of having done awful things. She told her clients that she didn’t need to know, that it was still her job to fight for them in court.

“Everyone deserves legal counsel, it’s not for me to judge their character. I am not a priest.” Alex snapped.

Okay, that might’ve been a crass way to put it, but questions like this annoyed Alex. Would she rather defend good-hearted, innocent people? Absolutely, but they rarely got in trouble.

“That’s not what I meant, Alexandra.” Alex flinched at the use of her full name. Her mother was definitely disappointed.

She felt herself shrink under the silent disapproval. She wasn’t eager to share any more news. Kara surely would tell her about it when they spoke the next time, so she tried to cut the conversation short.

“Uh, sorry, mom. I have to go. There’s a meeting with a potential new client J’onn and wants me to join,” she lied.

“Oh, of course. Yes, let’s talk soon, okay?”

“Yeah sure. Okay bye.” She hung up.

“Ugh…” she let out a groan and put her forehead on her desk and her hands above her head trying to hide from the world for just a moment.

Her phone dinged. She didn’t react. It dinged again. Grabbing and sliding her fingers over the display to unlock the screen two new texts from Lucy popped up.

 **Lucy:** aleeeexxxxxx

 **Lucy:** save me

 **Alex:** What’s going on? Where are you? I thought I’d see you in the office.

 **Lucy:** im stuck in contract negations at lord technologies. its about the acquisition of that startup i told u bout

 **Alex:** Yeah, I remember. Are they being difficult?

 **Lucy:** that and also max has been mansplaining for 2 hours. kill me now or i s2g i kill him

 **Alex:** Sorry, Luce, as a defense attorney and your friend, I have to strongly advice against that.

 **Lucy:** bummer

 **Lucy:** so tonight. club or bar?

 **Alex:** Where were you thinking of going?

 **Lucy:** the federal or executive suite

Alex considered for a moment. She really wasn’t in the mood to talk, so drinks and dancing the night away in National City’s most popular gay club seemed like it would be fun. She hadn’t been there in a while, really only a handful of times since she started working as a defense attorney full time, but it was sure to be a nice break from her usual routine.

 **Alex:** Executive Suite at 11pm? I’ll meet you there.

 **Lucy:** sounds good

A few moments later her phone dinged again with another text from Lucy.

 **Lucy:** and danvers, wear something nice. we r getting u laid ;)

Alex rolled her eyes.

There was a knock on her door and then J’onn peered in through a half opened door “Hey Alex. You got a minute, or is this not a good time?”

“No, it’s fine. Come in.” J’onn walked in and sat down on the other side of her desk. He gave her a slightly worried look, as if he sensed that she had just talked to her mother and was still a bit on edge. He was so empathic and always seemed to know what to say and when Alex needed to hear his soothing voice. He was her mentor and he’d become the closest to a father she had known since she was a teenager.

“I wanted to congratulate you. That was a good job. Robert Michaels just called and he said he appreciated your work and has asked the board to let us handle some of his company’s legal business.”

“That’s great!” Alex tried to sound enthusiastic but judging by J’onn’s expression she wasn’t as convincing as he hoped.

“Are you alright, Alex?”

“I’m just, uh. I’m in a bit of a funk. And I tried to talk to my mother and it all seems like I can never do enough. I win big cases, but it just, ugh, it’s not enough, it’s-” she cut herself off searching for the right words.

J’onn tilted his head, his warm eyes conveying understanding. He took her fidgeting hands into his to calm her down.

“Alex, you are a great lawyer. You have worked so hard. You have brought in big clients for this firm and you have earned your spot. You have already proven your worth. You deserve to be here. No one can take that away from you. I’m proud of you, Alex.”

Alex let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

“I want you to be proud of yourself, too. You get to choose now. You can decide who want or don’t want to work with, Alex. It’s not about pleasing me or the name partners by bringing in bigger names and more money, at the end of the day it’s about you being proud of yourself. I know you’ll always do a great job. I don’t want you to just know it, I hope that you also feel it. That you feel good about what you do. That you are proud of yourself, because I already am and always will be.”

Alex let out a sniffle. “Thank you, J’onn.”

“Any time,” he smiled.

When her breathing evened out and she had calmed down enough, J’onn let go of her hands and slowly got up.

He started walking out, then turned around. “Let me know, if you want to handle Michaels’ business cases or if I should refer him to Rogers, okay?”

“Yes, I’ll think about it. I’ll let you know Monday.”

 

\- - - - - - -

 

Getting ready took Alex much longer than expected, which was mainly due to face timing with Kara. She had insisted on helping Alex pick an outfit for the night, but had objected to all her choices and Alex was running out of options.

“Hm, let me see the first one again.”

“Kara,” Alex whined. “I have less than 20 minutes and I still haven't done my makeup. If we don’t find anything, I'm not going.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Kara rolled her eyes at her antics.

“I could just put on a flannel, jeans and boots. Keep it casual, you know.”

“No way, Lucy gave me clear instructions to make sure you look hot.”

Alex let out a frustrated growl.

“What about that blue cocktail dress with the diamond cutout? That’s cute and it shows off your arms and your cleavage, but like, not too much.”

“Uh, yeah, hold on.”

Alex went to search for the dress in her closet. Five minutes later, Kara gave her seal of approval. While she was finishing up her makeup and hair Alex turned the topic of conversation from her possible but not yet existent dating life to Kara’s.

“So, have you called James?”

When Kara didn’t immediately reply, Alex checked the screen of her phone, just to see Kara’s cheeks blush a faint pink.

“We’ll go on a picnic at the observatory tomorrow.”

“Oh, romantic,” Alex said with a teasing voice.

“Shut up!” Kara's blush intensified.

“No, it’s actually very cute. I’m happy for you really. If James Olsen is only half as good of a guy as you say he is. He has my blessing.”

“You’re still gonna give him the shovel talk when you meet him, won’t you?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely. I will let him know that I know how to get away with murder, should he ever hurt you. It’s my duty as your big sister.”

“Um, okay,” Kara laughed nervously. Alex didn’t mean for her tone to be as icy and serious. “I’m just kidding, Kara,” she followed up with a soft smile. Kara seemingly relaxed.

“Alright, I gotta go now.”

“Have fun!”

 

\- - - - - - -

 

Alex gets to the club early, she texts Lucy that shell wait for her and Vasquez at the bar.

It was one of the most popular gay clubs in National City and as to be expected on a Friday night, it was packed. She walked up the stars to the gallery and secured a spot at the bar overlooking the dance floor. There were couches and tables and people were talking animatedly, drinking and having fun.

The music was mix of some disco anthems and pop songs she had heard on the radio, but didn’t really know or care who performed them. Kara would always know exactly which Justin had just released what album, and could sing along the Top100 without needing to look up the lyrics.

Alex looked through the menu of fancy and colorful cocktails, raising her eyebrows at some of the names and twisting her face trying to image how some of these creations must taste. She ordered a scotch neat double.

Twenty minutes later Lucy arrived with Vasquez in tow - lipstick a bit smeared and slightly out of breath.

“Hey, why are you moping up here all by yourself?”

“I’m not moping.”

“You’re clearly moping”, Lucy threw back, looked at Vasquez, who looked at Alex then back at Lucy and then they nodded in unison.

“Whatever. I was just waiting for you guys. What even took you so long?” Lucy rolled her eyes at the question.

“Come on, let’s go down there and hit the dance floor.“ Lucy urged them.

“Let me finish my drink first. I’ll join you in a bit.” Clearly not satisfied with the reply Lucy huffed but relented and dragged Vasquez to the dance floor with her.

Alex ordered another drink.

Over an hour later Lucy and Vasquez reappeared at the bar, skin shiny with a thin film of sweat and out of breath from getting down and scream singing along to Mamma Mia.

“Can we get two Margaritas,” Lucy gave their order to the bartender, a tall woman with beautiful ebony skin and a curly mane.

“Hey, you said you wanted to join us.”

“I didn’t finish my drink yet,” she lied.

“Bullshit,” Lucy called her out. “After this round, we’ll all dance. No objections.”

When they received their drinks, they move to one of the tables. Alex watched the amber liquid as she swirled the glass in her hand. She didn’t really want to engage in any conversation right now. Her mother’s words and J’onn’s advice were still replaying in her head. Lucy and Vasquez had started a game of guessing the life stories of the people around them, making up wild tales about a billionaire hiding his passion for dressing in drag and a teenage heartthrob secretly dating his bodyguard.

Lucy turned her attention to a different table. She snorted and almost spilled her drink. “Oh my god, Alex. It’s you!”

“What?” Alex looked up at Lucy startled by suddenly being addressed.

“Over there.” Lucy discretely pointed her finger to a table on their left. “It’s your doppelgänger, but younger, with glasses and no stick up her ass.”

“Rude!”

Alex turned around to see three girls talking smiling and animatedly and clinking their glasses with colorful drinks together. There was skinny girl with glasses and long dark hair and a snapback with a tiny Bi Pride flag pinned to it, another with shoulder-long dark blond hair with the brightest smile on her face and a light-up flower crown on her head. The third girl, almost a foot taller than both of her friends, with short red hair and glasses.

“Huh,” Alex tilted her head. She could see the resemblance.

“Okay, your turn, Danvers.” Lucy turned to her to join in their little guessing game. “What are Alex 2.0 and her friends up to?”

Alex was bad at playing these kinds of games. She lacked the talent to come up with elaborate and fantastic stories. She liked facts. They felt comfortable. That’s what she liked about science, and it’s what she liked about the law.

She studied the three girls closely taking in all the details. They all seemed to be in their very early twenties, maybe even snuck in with a fake ID. She noticed all of them wearing shirts with the some kind of symbol on it that she didn’t recognize.

“I don’t know. Maybe they are sorority sisters, or members some kind of club, and they just had an event and went out for drinks after.”

“Boring,” Lucy exclaimed. “How are you this good of a lawyer with this little creativity?”

“I - I work hard,” she replied lamely.

“Anyway, bottoms up, bitches. We’re gonna dance.” Lucy noticed Alex’s clear lack of enthusiasm. “Come on, we’ll play ‘Have you met Alex’ It’ll be fun and you’ll finally get some action.”

Alex flipped Lucy off. “Fuck you, Lane.”

The dance floor is filled with a crowd moving to the beats of the music, some singing along with the circle of friends they came with, some showing off their moves for the crowd to wolf-whistle and cheer. Lucy and Vasquez have clearly zoned out a bit grind up on each other and Alex had turned around to be the only person to give them some privacy.

She moved to the rhythm and got lost in the music for some time, enjoying the way the lights made everyone seem so energetic and happy. She had not been out clubbing much after having far too much fun when she was back in law school and nearly flunked out had it not been for J’onn to give her a new perspective and help her clean up her act. Doing this every once in a while was fun, but she could not imagine spending every night like this. She had grown out of this and she was grateful for it.

They went back to the bar for another round of drinks. Alex was excitedly chatting with Vasquez about the Ducati she had bought a few weeks ago. She was delighted to have found another bike lover and hoped the three of them could eventually go out for a trip along the coast.

She had almost forgotten how much of a little shit Lucy was until she drunkenly poked a blond woman in a red dress leaning against the bar while waiting for her drink. When she turned around Lucy half-giggled and half-slurred, “Hey, have you met Alex?”

“Lucy,” Alex hissed.

Vasquez started laughing and almost choked on her drink. Lucy patted her on the back and while smirking at Alex. The woman looked confused, her eyes darting from Lucy to Vasquez to Alex.

Alex felt a blush tinging her neck and cheeks in a bright pink and the woman started tilted her head slightly and amusement flashing in her very pretty blue eyes, her lips curling into a sideways grin.

“Alex, huh?”

Alex wanted to disappear. Would it be weird to run? Would she be able to run in these heels having had this many drinks or would she just fall and make this even more embarrassing?

“I, uh,” she rambled bringing her head up and nervously running it through her short hair.

“I’m Sara,” she replied. Alex stood there awkwardly staring back at Sara.

“Um, yeah. Hi! It’s nice to meet you, um, Sara.” That was absolutely terrible. She internally face palmed. Lucy actually did face palm. Sara’s grin only widened. Vasquez had recovered from her coughing fit and came to her rescue.

“Oh hey, why don’t we move to the lounge area over there.” Vasquez pointed her finger at one of the large sofas. “Sara, you wanna join us?”

“Sure!”

They sat down and after some initial attempts at small talk the awkwardness faded. Sara, it turned out, was really fun to talk to. She was the producer of a travel blog and had tons of exciting stories to tell from all around the world. Her home base was Star City where she’d visit her older sister a few times a year, but usually she spent no more than a week in one place. It sounded exciting, but also exhausting. Alex hadn’t travelled all that much, she spent most of her life in California apart from a six week program in the UK and a trip to Thailand, where she first got a heat stroke and then food poisoning.

But Sara was intriguing. She was funny, beautiful and oh, those arms. The more Alex imagined being wrapped up in Sara’s arms, the more they laughed and shared anecdotes from their jobs, embarrassing stories about their sisters, the closer they seemed to move towards each. Sara’s hand brushed Alex’s thigh, and Alex could feel Sara’s breath on her skin.

Before Alex’s brain could really catch up on everything that was happening they were making out. Alex only half registered that at one point Lucy and Vasquez had excused themselves and left, because it was already so very late and they really needed to get some sleep. Yeah, right.

Disconnecting their lips to get a chance to breathe, Alex looked into Sara’s eyes having her own lust mirrored back at her. She contemplated asking Sara to continue what they stared in a more private atmosphere her apartment for example. But it’s been a while and she needed another drink to bring up the courage.

“I’m getting us another round. Do you want one?”

“Sure. Whatever you’re having is fine,” Sara replied her full lips swollen and read, her long blond hair tousled, chest heaving. She leaned back in the lounge sofa and watched Alex as she walked over to the bar. She ordered two Margaritas and let her eyes drift back down to the dance floor watching the people, now moving a bit looser and much closer to the deep beats.

When she finally gets the drinks, she grabs both glasses that are bit too full, trying to balance them so nothing would spill out on the way back. She turned around still focused on the glasses and bumps into someone who was clearly not there a second ago and really should not be standing so close.

“Fuck,” Alex spluttered out as the contents of two large glasses drips down the chest of a woman and the glasses shatter on the floor.

“What the fuck? Can’t you watch where you’re going,” a strangely familiar voice hissed.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Alex let out a yelp when her eyes move up and register who she just spilled her drinks on.

Maggie Sawyer looked furious, more furious really than she’d seen her this morning. Alex let out a fit of curses, apologies and fidgeted with her hands, not really sure what to do with them. Pick up the pieces of glass or help Sawyer dry her shirt. Oh no. She was staring. She was staring at Sawyers chest, forcing her eyes up. She noticed the angry look on the face had made way to confusion and annoyance.

“Um, I,” she spluttered, pointing at Sawyers chest. “I’m sorry, I, um. That…”

Sawyer rolled her eyes.

“It’s whatever.”

This was the second time Alex wished she could just vanish and not live though every second of the most embarrassing and awkward moments. Suddenly sobered up enough to mentally kick herself in her very useless gay ass, she fired out another more coherent apology, burying her hands deep in her pockets. Sawyer meanwhile had grabbed some napkins and tried to soak up some of the liquid. Alex stood uselessly and couldn't help staring at Sawyer again. She looked so different, with the skinny jeans, those boots and cropped tank top that revealed very defined arms and abs.

Sawyer started to speak, but before a sound could leave her lips, she was cut off by Sara. “Hey Alex,” she sauntered over. “Have you forgotten about me already?” That woman had impeccable timing.

Alex was dumbfounded throwing another apologetic look at Sawyer and willing herself to move, careful not to step on the shards of broken glass.

“Hey, let’s get out of here.” Sara moved closer, eyeing Sawyer with a curious look before turning her eyes to Alex. “Unless,” she turned her head and winked at Sawyer then looked back at Alex, “you wanna ask her to join us.”

Sawyer’s face froze. She blinked rapidly and her features twisted into a grimace that looked both appalled and amused and then burst out laughing. The whole situation being far too comical and absurd, breaking through her initial anger and annoyance.

“No, no! Not that, uh,” Alex looked between Sawyer and Sara not able to fight off the fantasies her drunken brain conjured at Sara’s implication. She felt another surge of panic and humiliation. By now the blush on her face must be visible from space. Alex wished time travel existed and she could just rewind the scene and get back to doing more pleasant things with the sassy blonde.

“I - “

She took a deep breath forcing herself to look at Sara and ignore Sawyer, who by now was trying to calm herself down still chuckling and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

“I’m, um, I’m good. Let’s get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m also on Twitter as @thusspokebianca, if you wanna chat.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's POV - we're getting to the main plot of this story, so buckle up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a hot minute, but writer's block hit and this took me a while to figure out. I checked my outline and had to rearrange a few things for the story to flow a little better, which I think worked out. It also brought the chapter count down to 10 (for now).
> 
> This is also the longest chapter yet, so I hope that makes up for the wait.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading this update. I'm looking forward to your comments and feedback :)

Maggie rolled over in her bed as the sunlight warmed her skin, legs tangled in the sheets. It still felt too early for a Saturday, especially after a night out. She tentatively opened her eyes to look around. The left side her bed was empty. She sighed. Last night could’ve gone so very differently.

She had gone to a club, that came up after a ten minute online search. Dancing and drinking seemed more fun than spending her time wallowing at home or the bar. M’gann was her friend, but Maggie was not in the mood to talk or reminisce about a lost case. She really needed a distraction. A distraction from all the cases that kept piling higher and higher on her desk. A distraction from that entitled white douchbag walking free. And most definitely a distraction from that bitch, Alex Danvers.

When she got to the club, people were already drunk, stumbling across the dance floor with much less grace than they surely did a few hours ago. Some making out in the corners pinned against walls they likely wouldn’t lean on for a millisecond if they weren’t drunk. She started to regret her decision to come here, especially still being sober. She scanned the room for the closest bar and started walking towards it, keeping an eye on the cute bartender swirling bottles in her hand to entertain the guests.

Before she even made it there, someone unceremoniously ran into her and spilled the content of their drinks all over her shirt. She was pissed, what the hell. Did they not have eyes? She began to spit curses before she looked up at the blind idiot. It was just her luck that the person she least wanted to see that night, or any night really, was standing right in front of her in the place she least expected it.

Alex Danvers looked like a mess. Well, no, Maggie internally slapped herself, because her eyes were wandering down her curves and long legs involuntarily. She looked breathtaking in that dress that hugged her in all the right places, and Maggie gasped audibly. Luckily Danvers didn’t notice because she was having some sort of meltdown, fidgeting with her hands and making wild gestures towards Maggie’s chest and the broken glasses on the floor, eyes wide with panic and a bit unfocused, incoherent mumbles and apologies leaving her lips.

At first Maggie was annoyed, but watching Danvers struggling to function was so different from her usual cold and collected demeanor it was downright hilarious. The big bad bitch turned into a helpless puppy right in front of her. The insults she was ready to yell quickly forgotten.

Then another woman, apparently Danvers’ date, walked up to them and instead of being bothered by spilled drinks or her date talking to some random stranger, started teasing Danvers about. It was priceless. She tried to contain it, but she really couldn’t hold the laughter in for another second. She truly needed to let it all out. She laughed away the tension and anger that had built up inside her over the day, the whole week even, if she was being honest with herself. It was such relief. She only half noticed how the couple left the club, Danvers casting a look back at her, eyes filled with embarrassment and confusion. What a gay disaster.

Waking up the next morning she felt guilty for her uncontrolled outburst of laughter and giggles. But only a tiny bit. So Alex Danvers is gay. Maggie should’ve known that. Danvers had pinged her gaydar, but Maggie could never be sure. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter for her job and she had no interest whatsoever in her personally. She really didn’t. Danvers was still a horrible person defending horrible people, being gay didn’t change any of that. She was also dating someone who casually suggested a threesome to a stranger. Maggie didn’t know whether she should take that as a compliment or an insult.

Danvers looked like she was considering it for half a second and her date was attractive, but no. Maggie stopped that train of thought before it went deep down into the gutter. Maggie had rules. And sleeping with the enemy, was a big, a really big, a not-to-ever-be-ignored no.

Maggie got out of bed put on a washed out navy blue Gotham City long sleeve shirt and dragged her feet out of her bed room and to the kitchen to make some tea to cure the light hangover. While she waited for the kettle to warm the water, she thought back to the rest of the night.

After Danvers and her date left the club, the cute bartender came up to her with a smirk offering her a dry shirt. Which lead to Maggie following her into the back room. Which lead to taking off her wet shirt in the back room. Which then turned into kissing and making out in the back room. And which could’ve turned into more, had they not been interrupted by one of the other bartenders. Maggie quickly put the new shirt on and they walked back out, looking around sheepishly.

Before she went back to work she gave Maggie her name and her number scribbled on a napkin along with a Peach Mojito on the house. For another hour Maggie talked to Jules at the bar before she took a ride back home. The night clearly didn’t go as expected, but in the end, Maggie didn’t think there was any reason to complain.

The steaming kettle bringing her back to the present. She let the green tea soak and added some agave syrup for good measure. She walked over to the living room and slumped down on the couch setting the cup on the table in from of there and covering herself in a soft blanket. She turned on the TV to catch up on the news.

She scrolled through her phone absentmindedly searching for Jules’ number. Would it be too soon to text her? Last night was fun and spontaneous, but she wasn’t really sure if they had much in common. Maybe she should find out. So, she sent out a text.

 **Maggie:** Hey, this is Maggie.

 **Maggie:** I had a great time last night, all thanks to you ;)

It took only a few moments before the three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen.

 **Jules:** I had a lot of fun too.

 **Jules:** Wanna give it another shot?

 **Maggie:** Are you asking me out on a date?

 **Jules:** Maybe ;) let me know when and where

 **Maggie:** Will do

Maggie smiled and put her phone down, focusing back on the news. She turned the volume up and sat upright sipping her tea to follow a report about a burglary at a jewelry store downtown the night before. The police found the jewel thief six blocks south of the store dangling head down from a streetlamp. He was dead, apparently killed by two shots - one in the head and one through his chest. It was the scene of an execution. The news anchor looked grim reading all the details that were known so far.

According to the report, the surveillance footage was currently being retrieved and analyzed by the NCPD. They didn’t have a suspect yet, but Maggie had the suspicion nagging at her brain. This felt all too familiar to things she thought she had left behind in Gotham. She felt sick and it wasn’t because of the hangover.

 

\- - - - - - -

 

Later than night Maggie was getting ready to meet Jules. The TV was still on and while she put some makeup on another report following up on the murdered jewel thief came on.

“NCPD just confirmed that the surveillance footage from the scene of the murder has been analyzed and a suspect could be identified.” Maggie stopped in her tracks.

“According to our sources an arrest warrant has been issued for the vigilante known as Guardian. The NCPD asks anyone who has information that will lead to an arrest to come forward. Citizens of National City are asked to not engage with Guardian as he is considered armed and dangerous.”

Maggie’s stomach sank. This confirmed her worst fears. The self-proclaimed heroes lost touch with reality and thought they were above the law. Now there was a masked madman out there playing judge an executioner and terrorized the streets. It was the last thing the city needed.

“GUARDIAN WANTED FOR MURDER,” the tagline read.

Maggie sighed as turned the TV off. She’d have to deal with all of this on Monday morning. There was going to be a manhunt and she hoped they’d find him quickly before he could hurt anymore people.

She checked her watch. It was time for her date with Jules. M’gann had suggested a place called Noonan’s. Maggie had never been there as it was way on the other side of town, but Jules seemed to like it. She decided to take her bike to get there. The soothing roar of the engine and the fresh air would clear her thoughts and help her focus on the happy aspect of spending the evening with a beautiful woman. Also, she was pretty sure that Jules would appreciate the aesthetic. Putting on her favorite leather jacket and grabbing her keys she walked out of her apartment.

She got there a few minutes early and checked her phone. Jules had sent her a text that she would be there later than expected and that Maggie should get started with what she called ‘the second best Margarita’ - she had added winking and kiss face emojis after that - ‘in town’. Maggie rolled her eyes and chuckled.

She was seated at a small table close to the bar. She liked this place, it was bright, and the decor was modern without being cold or sterile. There were pieces of local artists on display. Maggie liked the colors of a painting of what looked like an elephant.

She ordered a water and leaned back in her chair to watch the people around her. It was apparently a very popular spot for first dates, or second dates, or dates in general.

There was a young couple by the window gazing into each other’s eyes while they shared one tiramisu. An elderly couple discussed the wine menu and tried to agree on whether the white or the rosé would go better with the chicken. They eventually decided on getting a glass of each. There was a blond girl sitting by herself. She was dressed in perky bright colors that reminded Maggie of Elle Woods, but with glasses. She looked worried and upset and was fidgeting with her phone, eyes flitting up to the door ever so often. Maggie hoped her date hadn't ditched her.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Jules.

 **Jules:** Hey, just finishing up, will be there in 20. Sorry, for letting you wait :(

 **Jules:** Promise I’ll make it up to you ;)

Maggie smiled to herself. Jules was bold and cocky but in a refreshing way. She had to thank Alex Danvers for spilling those drinks on her.

As if the thought had summoned her, Danvers walked through the door. Maggie sank down in her seat and quickly put the menu up to hide her face behind it. ‘Great stealth mode right there, Sawyer’ she internally face-palmed. She peered over to the door. Danvers had not seen her, but her eyes were scanning the room frantically until they found who they were looking for. Danvers started walking towards the blond girl.

They locked eyes and Danvers said a name, that Maggie couldn’t hear through the other sounds at the restaurant. She looked worried and a bit confused. Was this another date? Was Danvers dating two women? At the same time? Well, for one, she clearly had a type. Was that useless gay routine she saw the night before just an act? Did it actually work? Or did these women fall for the stone cold bitch with a stick up her ass that she knew from court? That was unimaginable. Maybe there was more to her than she had seen in these past six months. Maggie was intrigued. So, despite her better judgement and her intent to not be creepy she occasionally glanced over while pretending to read the menu.

Danvers sat down opposite the blonde and tentatively took her hands, talking to her in a low voice. Maggie couldn’t make out words, but it seemed like she was trying to comfort her. Maggie sipped at her water trying to make some sense of their body language and the expressions on their faces. The blond started getting teary-eyed as she spoke, but she wasn’t angry and it seemed like she wasn’t upset because of Danvers. On the contrary, she was leaning forward and her and she started rubbing small circles on her shoulder. Her eyes focused on the blond and the worry replaced by warmth. That was new.

So, this was not a date, Maggie concluded. It was someone comforting a friend. Maggie felt a pang of guilt for assuming the worst, when really she didn’t know Alex Danvers at all. She had never met her outside of a courtroom and maybe she was too quick to judge, when just in the last 24 hours she had seen two completely different sides of her. She had trouble imagining Danvers having any friends considering the way she acted in court. She saw her talk to that other lawyer, Lucy Lane, a lot, but they worked for the same firm. She wasn’t sure if they were actually friends. Maggie actually liked Lane. She was quick witted, charming and very easy on the eyes.

Maybe she had to reevaluate, if Lane was friends with her and if the way she cared about this girl was genuine, then Danvers might not be such a horrible person - at least not all the time. Had she first met her outside of a courtroom she might even like her. Maybe not like her, but probably not hate her as much as she did. Probably.

Maggie leaned back in her chair and sipped on her water, reading the veggie page of the menu for a third time. She had read it twice already and could probably recite it by heart. The grilled Portobello and avocado burger sounded really good. Should she get sweet potato fries too or share a desert with Jules instead?

A few moments later the blonde got a phone call. She gasped and looked irritated handing the phone over to Danvers, who looked equally confused raising her left eyebrow. She took the phone and listened for a moment, then turned solemn and excused herself to go outside. When she walked back in a few minutes later she handed the phone back and asked a waiter for the check. The two women left in a bit of a hurry, Danvers looking worried and the blonde looking confused and anxious.

Before Maggie had time to think what all of that might have been about. Jules walked through the door smiling at her.

 

\- - - - - - - -

 

It was Sunday afternoon, when Jules left her apartment and Maggie started scrolling through her phone to catch up on things she had missed. Spending the night and the morning with Jules had been a welcome distraction.

She had meant to take things slow with the bartender, but the resolve was gone almost as fast as their clothes after they had come up to her apartment for a nightcap. Jules was fun and exciting and Maggie didn’t mind taking a more casual approach. She definitely wanted to explore where things might go. They had talked for hours about everything and nothing at Noonan’s and the conversation flowed easily. They were a good match in bed as well, moving together in sync. Maggie smiled to herself at the memories.

But work didn’t wait for her, not even on a Sunday. There were several unanswered calls and a few texts from her boss, telling her to check the news right away and to be prepared to get in early on Monday.

She turned on the local news channel and opened her laptop to take some notes. First there was the weather forecast for the upcoming week – it was going to be yet another sunny and mild October. Even a week before Halloween it was still warm, hot even by her Nebraska standards. She could honestly say that she would not miss the snow or the gloomy November weather she had hated so much about Gotham.

After the weather the news anchor took over again to talk about the recent developments in the Guardian murder case.

“Our top story today,” he began and turned to another camera. “The vigilante known as Guardian who was wanted for murder has turned himself in.” Maggie’s eyes opened wide. Saying that she was surprised would’ve been the understatement of the century.

“We’ll check back with Dean who’s live at the 124th precinct, where a man walked in this morning to confirming he was the man behind the Guardian mask. Dean what can you tell us?”

“Thank you, Steve. We don’t have a lot of information at the moment as to the motive for the crime, but we do have a name.”

The vigilante’s identity was revealed to be James Olsen, a photographer at the Tribune, or rather former photographer. Olsen had been suspended until further notice. A statement was given by the paper’s public relations representative distancing themselves from him and his vigilante activities.

They had claimed he was National City’s hero just a few days ago and now they were going to print headlines calling him dangerous menace. How the tables have turned.

The report now delved into Olsen’s past, pulling up old stories from his days in Metropolis working at the Daily Planet, showing college and high school pictures and discussing how the loss of his father might’ve affected his behavior. This was going too far. Maggie turned off the volume and typed in a few notes on her laptop. She opened a Google search to look into Olsen herself.

It was odd. James Olsen, 32 years old, was a model citizen. He graduated from Metropolis University, a good school he had gotten into with a football scholarship, and started working as a freelance photographer until he was hired by The Daily Planet. He had moved to National City a little over a year ago, because the Tribune had offered him a position. Maggie wasn’t sure if that was the only reason he left Metropolis. She took a note to look into that later. She scrolled further, but apart from his photos, some of which had won journalism prizes, nothing came up. He had never been involved in any illegal activities or displayed violent behavior. He never even got a parking ticket.

Olsen had not given a statement, yet. At least none had been released to the public. If he got himself a lawyer, they would’ve told him to keep quiet for now. The police had just started the investigation and was still looking for witnesses and a murder weapon.

 

\- - - - - - -

 

On Monday morning Maggie was called into her bosses. She was officially assigned Olsen’s case. Not wanting to waste any time she got to work. She went down to the 124th precinct to check back with the leading detective, a brash woman named Carter filled her in on the outcome of the investigation so far.

No one else was caught on tape and apart from the officers, who first got to the scene there was only one witness, a homeless man who had been hiding in a corner on the other side of the street. No one else had come forward yet, but it was still early. The suspected murder weapon had turned up in a garbage bin close to the crime scene. The ballistics expert would have to clarify whether or not it was the gun that had been fired at the victim. Everything seemed pretty clear. The case would go to trial soon unless Olsen accepted a guilty plea. He wasn't doing himself a favor relying on a crappy public defender. Having been fired from his job, there was no way he could afford a decent attorney.

Maggie hoped Olsen would take the deal she offered him. She had a terrible feeling about prosecuting this man. Several groups were publicly calling a hero and voiced their concerns about him being wrongly convicted, based on the color of his skin.

When she walked into the room, Olsen looked up for a brief moment, his eyes defiant, but calm. He was a tall man with broad shoulders, Maggie figured he didn’t even need a mask for people to be intimidated by him. She sat down opposite him, took out a notepad and a pen. She looked him for a moment before she addressed him.

“Mr. Olsen, I’m ADA Maggie Sawyer. I’m here to talk to you about what has happened last Friday night,” she introduced herself.

Olsen remained quiet, eyes now cast down staring intently at the table in front of him.

“Please, listen to me. The police have almost finished investigating the case and as of now the evidence is pointing to you as the only suspect. I would like to offer you the possibility to take responsibility.”

She paused.

“Mr. Olsen, I’m trying to help you,” she pleaded.

He looked up with weary eyes. He seemed to think about that for a moment and then slowly opened his mouth. He spoke in a low voice, picking his words carefully.

“Are you?” He began. Maggie gave him a look of surprise to make him elaborate on his question.

“I’ve been trying to help, as Guardian, I mean. The police were grateful when I did, but now that this has happened, and I am being judged and called a murderer on TV. No one is listening to me.”

“The investigation is still ongoing, but so far there are no other suspects. All they have points to you,” Maggie repeated.

“I didn’t do it.” He said slowly with a clear effort to keep his voice steady and low.

“If I knew anything, I would tell you, but I don’t. I turned myself in, so I could help. So the police could focus on catching the real murderer, but they are not even looking.” He could no longer hide the frustration from his voice having repeated that statement over and over again over the past two days.

“You said you were Guardian. There is surveillance footage showing Guardian with the victim. There is witness who saw a masked man they identified as Guardian flee from the scene and the police found the murder weapon close by,” Maggie summed up.

“Am I missing anything?”

Olsen looked like he was ready to protest, but he thought better of it a turned solemn. He took a long breath.

“I was there. I caught the thief. I left.” He took another breath to steady himself, before he continued. “I didn’t shoot him. I don’t know who did it, but I never shot anyone. I don’t own a gun and never have.”

“Mr. Olsen, I suggest you plead guilty. If you cooperate, you’ll be sentenced to ten years, it might even be reduced to eight years for good behavior. You’ll get out and you will still have a life. If this goes to trial, you will be sentenced for life.”

Olsen dropped his gaze to the table and stayed quiet.

 

\- - - - - - -

 

Five weeks had passed.

The investigation of the case had officially ended three weeks ago. The ballistics report of the gun that was found near the scene concluded that it was in fact the murder weapon. There were no fingerprints or DNA particles found on it, so either it had been wiped clean or what was more likely the shooter had been careful enough to wear gloves. The surveillance footage confirmed the second theory quickly. Two other witnesses had turned up, who could link the Guardian to the scene of the crime. Meanwhile no other leads or suspects had turned up.

Despite it all, Olsen stuck to his statement. That yes, he was the one who tied the victim to the streetlamp, but he wasn’t the one who shot him. He had repeatedly refused any plea deal Maggie had offered to him so eventually his case went to trial.

It was set to start the next day and Maggie was dreading its approach. The public attention on the case was quite overwhelming. Several groups had gathered on both sides and tensions were running high. The media coverage did nothing to calm sentiments down, but rather added even more fire. Meanwhile a few other individuals had started roaming the streets ‘fighting crime’ following Guardian's example.

Things were crazy and with all the work she had to do getting ready for the upcoming trial, preparing questions for witnesses, drafting her opening statement and all the while still struggling smaller cases on the side.

She had only seen Jules a few times, since their first date, having a hard time to schedule proper dates. Their work schedules just never seemed to align and when they did something got in the way unexpectedly. They managed to spend a few nights together, after a spontaneous cooking session or a movie night, but it was still more of a casual arrangement, than a relationship. They had not really talked about it. They texted a lot and when they were together it was more about living in the moment than analyzing and labelling what they were to each other.

Maggie liked Jules, but wasn’t sure where things were heading; if she wanted them to go anywhere at all; if she was even ready for a serious relationship, or what Jules expected from her. It was fun and light, without any real responsibilities, while the rest of her life, her job her past where sometimes threatening to overwhelm and break her. Maggie could feel Jules getting frustrated with the situation.

But she loved her job. It was important to her and prioritizing it over her personal life had never felt wrong to her, but according to Emily and now Jules, even though she had never said it out loud, that wasn’t okay. She wished she could divide her attention, her passion evenly and give one hundred percent on her job prosecuting criminals and making the city a safer place for everyone and also being the best possible maybe-girlfriend she could be. But she couldn’t and she wasn’t. She hated not being enough.

This was important to her and it was a difficult case, but she wanted to give Jules the attention she deserved. She really cared about her, maybe even loved her. It was too soon to say the words, but Maggie felt she could be the right one. Maybe.

Maggie had trouble going to sleep the night before the first day of the trial. Jules had offered to distract her, but Maggie was rattled from yet another report about groups praising Olsen as a hero who was wrongly put on trial, by a corrupt and racist system.

She hated being caught in the middle of this. She had experienced so much prejudice and hate first hand, because her skin was darker than all the other kids’ back in Blue Springs, and when she was outed they hated her for her sexuality. She understood their frustration and that it was not directed at her personally, but it was hard to ignore the venom in their voices.

So she made sure Jules didn’t feel rejected and asked for a date later that week. Maybe they could get dinner and go to the movie theater. She promised to even let her pick the movie, even if it ended up being a silly romantic comedy or some action blockbuster she couldn’t follow, because she had seen none of the prequels or other movies set in the same universe, but she didn’t care. They would spend time together and that’s what mattered.

Maggie went to bed early - alone; just to wake up the next morning unable to go back to sleep at 5 am. She was too anxious to stay in bed so she went to the park for a run. It was still dark and the air felt brisk on this October morning. The park was empty apart from a few homeless people still asleep on their benches bathed in the light of a few street lamps. The fresh air cleared her mind and the steady movement calmed her nerves.

When she got back home she took a quick shower and got ready. She put on a dark grey suit and a simple white shirt. She put her hair up in a ponytail. It was only 7 am when she left her apartment to head to the courthouse.

Maggie passed her favorite coffee place on her way and she decided to get a fresh brew instead of the gross instant coffee they had at court. She still had over an hour to spare so she might as well have some breakfast too. It was enough time to get caffeinated and go over her notes for the opening statement. Deep in her thoughts she didn’t even notice as the barista asked her for her order. A woman in line behind her poked her and cleared her throat to make her pay attention.

Maggie’s had snapped up “Ugh, sorry what?”

“Do you want the usual?” the girl behind the counter asked. “Or do you want to add some pumpkin spice to your latte?”

“Um, yeah, that would be nice. Oh, and can I have a cinnamon roll.”

“Sure thing,” the girl smiled. “Should I warm it up for you?”

“Yes, please.”

Maggie grabbed her latte and sat down in a comfortable looking chair by the window. The early morning rush died down quickly. Bringing over her cinnamon roll, the barista gave her a concerned smile as she put the plate on the small coffee table.

“There you go.”

“Thank you.” Maggie looked up and smiled back warily.

“Are you okay? I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you eat sugar this early in the morning.”

“I-“

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be creepy or anything. I’m just gonna…” she trailed off adjusting her glasses nervously and tuning to move back to the counter.

“Oh, no, um, I just have a big case today, and I’m a bit, well, I’m kinda stressing about it,” Maggie tried to clarify.

“Oh,” the girl smiled softly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be great.” Maggie was grateful for the comforting words.

“Thank you, um,” she squinted trying to read the name tag. “I really appreciate the pep talk, Siobhan.”

“Anytime,” she smiled as she walked back to serve another guest that had just walked in.

 

\- - - - - - -

 

There was a large crowd waiting outside of the courthouse. There were signs and t-shirts with ‘Guardian is our hero’, ‘Justice for Guardian’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, but also some ‘Vigilante Justice is not Justice' as well as some right winged and downright racist statements. The police officers had some trouble keeping the groups in check. Maggie hoped there wouldn’t be any violence.

The courtroom was just as packed as the streets. Every seat in the gallery was taken. There was some chatter when she walked to her table and unpacked the case file and her notes. Briefly looking up she saw more people trying to push through the door, even when the bailiff told them no more people were allowed in to avoid any major disturbance to the trial.

She focused on her notes again trying to ignore the snarky comments from the gallery. Suddenly the voices grew louder, she looked back up to see what the reason was figuring it would be time for Olsen to arrive. There he was, wearing a light grey suit and a dark blue shirt entered the room. He looked smaller than she remembered. Shoulders slumped, eyes tired and nervous, but he still radiated a sense of calmness.

He was led over to the table of the defense and his hands were uncuffed. His attorney was not there yet. The voices in the gallery rose again as there was some commotion at the door.

“Excuse me, can you step aside and let me through.” Maggie looked up when she recognized the voice.

There was Alex Danvers pushing through the crowd at the door and walking towards Olsen, who got up and gave Danvers a relieved smile.

Maggie gasped audibly. She had expected a public defender, maybe that guy Andrews, but not her. Why did Danvers take this case? Was it because of all the media attention? Was this a publicity stunt?

She looked so different than she usually did at court. There was no cocky smirk and none of the usual aloofness. Instead her worried look reminded Maggie of the night she’d seen her with the blonde woman at Noonan’s. Did this case matter to her personally? How did she know Olsen?

The quick fire of questions on Maggie’s mind was interrupted by the bailiff ordering the doors to be closed. The twelve jurors walked in through a separate door and took their seats in the jury box. The court reporter started typing. The trial was about to start.

Ordering silence he called out “Hear ye, hear ye! This is case 1213.01 the State of California vs. James Olsen. This court is now in session, the Honorable Judge Catherine Grant is presiding.”

Judge Grant walked in and the room immediately went quiet. She was a petite blonde woman, with a captivating aura. Maggie had heard stories, but she never worked on a case that was judged by her. Grant was supposedly smart, fair but also snarky and with a short temper. This was going to be interesting.

Judge Grant turned to the bailiff and gave him a small nod, indicating him to arraign Olsen.

“James Olsen, you stand charged that on September 22nd you did murder Paul Roberts, how do you plead?”

All eyes were on Olsen. He looked up and spoke with a steady voice. “Not guilty.”

Danvers gave him a small nod and he glanced back down at the table. People in the gallery were starting to whisper as Maggie got up to give her opening statement. She looked at Grant and mustered the people in the jury. Took a deep breath.

“Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, that I'll be travelling most of September and the next update might take a while, depending on how much time I find.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex’s POV - First trial day and some almost friendly banter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, friends. Travel and work have kept me pretty busy, but this update was long overdue. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> *** indicate beginning and end of a longer flashback

Alex listened to Sawyer giving her opening statement. Stating what had happened that night in September carefully choosing her words as if not to cause an outrage in the crowded courtroom. The air was already getting stuffy. Alex remembered that night, too. She had run into Sawyer and made an utter fool out of herself. She had tried to avoid her, taking on a copyright case to stay away from criminal court for a while, but she knew she couldn’t avoid Sawyer forever.

Sawyer spoke about how vigilante justice was troublesome, and people ended up getting hurt unintentionally and Alex couldn’t help but agree with her. Though, while Sawyer was talking about Roberts, Alex was thinking about her sister.

***

Kara had called her, voice breaking, and asked her to meet her at Noonan’s on the Saturday she was supposed to go on a date with James. He had cancelled on her last minute without offering any explanation or asking for a rain check. It made no sense. When she got there, Kara was reduced to anxious tears. Maybe she should have suggested meeting at her place instead to avoid a breakdown in a public place with happy couples around them. Also ice cream and some extra soft blankets would’ve helped in comforting her.

In the middle of Kara’s explanation that everything seemed fine just a few hours before, Kara’s phone rang. They both looked at the glowing screen. It was an unknown number. Kara looked up at her questioningly. Unsure of what to do, Alex only shrugged. Kara answered the phone. She waited for a moment and then gasped, her eyes widening. She looked at Alex and without saying anything and slowly handed her the phone.

She took the phone and held it to her ear.

“Ale- um, Ms. Danvers?”

“Yes, this is she.” Alex answered.

“Ms. Danvers, this is James Olsen.” Alex looked at Kara, surprise and confusion painted across her face. Kara looked back at her with a similar expression.

“I’m going to need your help as a lawyer.” He paused. “I think I might…”

“Hold on,” Alex cut him off.

She looked at Kara apologetically. “I have to take this outside.”

If James needed her help as a lawyer, this was confidential, and if he had gotten himself in some kind of trouble, Alex did not want Kara to be involved in any way.

She excused herself and walked out of the restaurant feeling the crisp air cool her face. A million scenarios of what was going on running through her mind as she took the few steps around a corner to be out of earshot.

“What the hell is going on, Olsen? Tell me this has nothing to do with Kara,” Alex started without preamble.

“This is confidential, right?” He asked quietly.

“Yes,” she replied.

Olsen started to tell her about how he had chosen to become the vigilante known to the public as Guardian. How he tried to help those the police could or would not help. How things were going well. How people felt safe and protected by him and how things had gone wrong the night before.

Alex listened to every word, noting how things were now starting to make sense.

“You ditched my sister to run around and play hero at night?” The question came out sounding much angrier and cynical than she had anticipated.

“No, that’s not wha-,” he tried to protest, but was cut off by Alex again.

“She was worried about you. Well, she was worried the man she liked tried to avoid her, but this. This is just…” she took a breath to calm herself down. “It’s not a game, Olsen. You go out there and fight criminals without any idea of what they are up to, what weapons they might have. There is no reset button. Had you gotten hurt, Kara would’ve been devastated.”

“But I didn’t.”

“That’s not the point.” Alex hissed. “What you did was stupid, and not to mention illegal.”

“I kept Kara out of it.” He replied simply.

“Oh, and for how long did you think that was gonna work? She’s smart, she would’ve figured it out sooner or later.”

“I didn’t really think…” he trailed off.

“That’s right, you didn’t think!” Alex had to stop herself, voice raised, and heads of passers-by turned her way.

“You were reckless and now a man is dead and the police are hunting down a murderer, who they assume is your alter ego.”

“I know,” was all he replied, voice small and defeated.

“You have to turn yourself in. It’s the only way. Walk into to the next precinct, tell them what you told me, that there’s another guy out there and that you’re willing to help by giving them all the information you have.”

“Do you think they’ll believe me? Do you think they’ll search for the other guy?” He sounded like he already knew the answer to that question.

“Honestly? No, I don’t. But it’s the only way to keep you safe. It’s the only way to keep Kara out of this. Her safety is my priority.” Alex would always protect Kara. It was engrained in her, ever since her dad told her she had to make sure her new little sister was okay. It changed something in Olsen’s voice and Alex was beyond grateful for it. With honesty and a hint of determination he simply replied “Mine too.”

***

Sawyer concluded her opening statement urging the jury to keep the safety of the city and to not let it succumb to chaos. The jury had followed her and some nodded when she said that whether or not Guardian was a murderer, his actions were dangerous and had to be punished.

Alex felt sick. For the first time in a long time, the anxiety to speak in a courtroom seemed to overwhelm her. She turned her head to look at James Olsen. He was calm, eyes cast down with a hint of sadness, regret and fear.

She was doing this for him and her sister. Kara had begged her to take the case and defend James as soon as she found out on the news. She had been confused after the phone call at Noonan’s but understood that just doing her job and trying to keep her safe. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for her, especially when two blue orbs filled with tears were looking back at her.

Alex pushed herself of the chair, looking around. All eyes were on her looking expectantly and urging her to deliver her opening statement in what was likely the case to define the future of her career. J’onn had put a lot of trust in her letting her take the case, going against the partners’ wishes to not involve the firm in ‘this mess’. The media coverage was outrageous. Many voices on both sides of the aisle were trying to use the case to promote their own agendas. Olsen couldn’t afford legal counsel and would have been stuck with a public defender, so she did it pro bono.

They had told her she got one and she understood what that meant. She had one chance and if she failed, she could kiss her ambitions of becoming a junior partner goodbye. She would be lucky if she still had a job should this go wrong.

There was chatter in the gallery as she stood up. It was white noise and she tried to block it out. She took a deep breath, grounding herself and focusing on the people in the jury.

“James Olsen is a good man,” she began carefully. Kara believed in him. She always saw the best in people. She was a hopeless optimist, but she wasn’t naïve. If Kara believed he was a good man, then Alex trusted her judgment.

“He is a good man,” she said again with conviction fixing the people in the jury.

“He is a good man, who made a mistake.” She turned to Sawyer, who stared back at her with a hint of surprise.

“His mistake was to assume that the only way he could help make the people in this city feel safe is by putting on a mask and chasing down petty criminals at night.” Sawyer’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew big. The chatter in the gallery grew louder.

“His mistake was to stop a thief from escaping with jewels worth $1.3 million dollars. His mistake was not to wait for the police to arrive at the crime scene and to take that thief into custody. His mistake was to wear a mask anyone else could buy in a random costume store.” She took a break to look around the room, her eyes finally landing on Olsen.

“He made the mistake to be out there that night, but he tried to correct it. He turned himself in, hoping the police would believe him and would keep looking for Roberts’ killer.”

“He meant to protect the people in this this city, to shield them from harm and now it is our responsibility to protect him from quick judgment, to give him a voice and to make sure the investigation is reopened so that the search for the true killer can be continued. It is our responsibility to protect an innocent man, a hero, from spending the rest of his life in prison.”

The voices in the gallery grew louder, some started chanting “Justice for Guardian.”

“Order, order!” Judge Grant called the bailiff in the back of the room moving to stop them from chanting. “In my courtroom you only speak, when I say you do. Otherwise you will be removed immediately.” She hissed fixing them with a stern look.

“We will take a break until-” she cut herself off to checked her watch. “We will reconvene at 1:30pm. Hopefully everyone will have calmed down when we come back to hear the testimony of the prosecution’s first witness.” Judge Grant gave a short tap with her gavel.

\- - - - - - -

She sat on one of the benches outside of the courtroom a paper cup filled with tea in her left hand, she was way too anxious to drink coffee right now, skimming through her notes and her questions for the first witness.  
It took her some time to realize someone stood in front of her and had started talking.

“Huh, um what?” Alex stammered looking up. Sawyer came into focus. Alex felt a sudden urge of panic.

“That was a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Sawyer said, repeating the question she had asked a few seconds ago.

“Um,” Alex struggled to find words. This was beyond awkward. She had been so busy prepping for this case comforting Kara and convincing the firm’s partners and herself that it was the right thing to do, that her personal life had taken somewhat of a backseat. But right in this very moment the memories from that night at the club a few weeks ago came back to her and she felt a surge of panic as her neck and cheeks flushed a bright pink. Alex wanted to apologize again for the spilled drinks, the ruined shirt and Sara’s remarks. Lucy had a field day when she heard the story and pledged to not ever let her live it down, so help her god. The worst best friend. Ever. Then again, this was not the time nor place to bring it up and maybe Sawyer had forgotten about it.

The tiny hint of grin on Sawyers face told her otherwise. Alex’s thoughts must have been visible on her face. She averted her eyes.

“Well, it’s not like you were exactly subtle. Calling Guardian a threat to the stability in city, and a door opener to chaos and vigilante justice? Really? This is not Gotham.” Alex was proud of her retort, looking back up at Sawyer it hit the right mark. Sawyer’s expression changed to an annoyed glare.

“Not yet!” Came her curt reply. Her eyes softened after the words escaped her mouth and she seemed to contemplate saying something else, but didn’t.

“I didn’t mean to, um, bring that up.” Alex mumbled and Sawyer’s eyes grew wide with surprise and shock.

“I, um, I did my homework, you know.” She continued. “After that first case. I couldn’t let you make me look like an amateur again.”

“Did you have your fancy law firm investigator turn every stone to find dirt on me?” Sawyer asked half-jokingly half accusingly.

“What? No!”

Alex’s voice was a little more shrill than she would’ve liked. She had tried to dig up skeletons but either Sawyer was extremely good at burying them or there simply weren’t any. Vasquez had suggested to stalk her on social media, but all that came up were pictures of rescue dogs, recipes for vegan chocolate mousse - gross - and a couple of gym selfies that Alex was definitely too gay for to ever look at again. It would be the peak of embarrassment if she accidentally liked any of them.

“No, I just read about some of your old cases and there were news reports linked, so I kinda stumbled upon it.” She stopped assessing from the look on Sawyers face if it would be wise to keep going.

“That must have been awful.” Sawyer’s eyes were intently looking an old coffee stain on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Alex added. She wasn’t sure if it was an apology or an attempt to console the woman, who never looked so small and fragile before.

“You’re right.” Sawyer spoke up siting down on the bench next to her. Taking a breath and looking right at Alex her eyes suddenly sparkling with determination.

“National City is not Gotham.” Alex nodded in agreement. “And I will make sure it stays that way.” Sawyer got up and walked back into the courtroom.

\- - - - - - -

The first witness on the stand was the young Officer Boyle, who was the first on the scene and found the body. He was nervous but, judging from the look on the faces of some of the jurors, he was believable and most of all likeable. Damn human puppy. Every time Alex dared to interrupt Sawyer’s examination, she felt several pairs of angry and protective eyes on her.

Alex sank down in her chair and took notes to ask during her cross-examination. She could to handle this, she had enough practice with Kara. Resisting the pout and those big blue orbs was an art form and Alex had mastered it early on.

When it was her turn to question Officer Boyle, she walked up to the stand and addressed him with a sweet smile and a calming voice she used when she was trying to comfort Kara during thunderstorms back when they were teenagers.

“Officer Boyle, my name is Alex Danvers. Thank you for your recollection of the events of that night. That was very helpful. I just have a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

He looked over to Sawyer and after she gave an encouraging nod he looked back at Alex and nodded at her.

“Sure.”

“Thank you, Officer Boyle.”

Alex started asking her questions always making sure she didn’t scare him off. He was nervous, but calmly replied to the first couple of questions.

Boyle and his partner had been called to the jewelry store and then send to another address a few blocks away from the store, where they found the body. He admitted that at first it was not clear Roberts was already dead, because he had been tied up to the streetlight unable to move or escape.

“Do you think the same person, who tied Roberts up called in the anonymous tip?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Boyle made a little shrugging motion as he voiced out the last word.

“Has that happened before?” Alex asked.

“Um, yes, that’s how we had found a few other perps whenever Guardian was involved.” Alex peeked at the jury before she continued with her questions. Some of them took notes, others looked at James a little more favorably than earlier this morning.

“Had they been harmed?” Alex turned back to Boyle.

“No, um, well, apart from a few bruises, or a dislocated shoulder.” Someone in the gallery snickered at that. It actually wasn’t funny. There was a good chance these perps would not be charged, because of the circumstances of their arrest. Some would probably even try to sue James for damages now that they knew who he was.

She focused back on Boyle. “But none of them had been killed?”

“No, they were all alive.” He replied. Chatter in the gallery grew louder at that, but one cleared throat and a stern look from Judge Grant shut it down quickly.

“If Guardian didn’t kill any of the others, did seem unusual to you that Mr. Roberts was shot in the head?” Alex asked.

“Well, um, I guess.” He mumbled. He thought for a few moments and then continued. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“Do you think a man who has been helping the police catch perps, who hasn’t used a firearm in any of the other cases he’s been involved in, would suddenly start shooting someone who was tied up dangling from a street lamp, unable to move and defenseless?”

“No, I-“ Boyle started but was cut off by Sawyer’s objection.

Alex withdrew the question. All she had needed was for the jury was to hear Boyle’s answer. It would be impossible for them to un-hear it, even though Judge Grant asked them to disregard it. They were only human, and Alex knew what she was doing. Sawyer knew it too. She looked rather frustrated clenching her jaw and scribbling down notes with a little more force than was necessary.

“No further questions, Your Honor. Thank you for answering my questions, Officer Boyle.” Alex sat back down next to James.

She had made her point. James, well Guardian, had left Roberts for the police to find and called in his location. Officer Boyle’s testimony just confirmed that shooting him didn’t seem like something Guardian would’ve done. She looked at the jury, judging from the looks on their faces they seemed to have come to a similar conclusion.

It was a small win, but it was only the first day of the trial. There was still a long way to go and she knew this could get ugly.

They were to resume the next day. Alex was hoping they’d get through it quickly. This was already one of the most exhausting case she had ever worked on. The enormous media attention weeks before the trial even started, the constant chatter in the courtroom, and worrying about whether or not Vasquez would find some more information in time were draining all the energy from her.

She looked over to James. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“Please tell Kara, it’s all good,” he whispered. “I don’t want her to worry about me.”

“I will,” Alex promised.

James gave her the tiniest of smiles and then he was escorted out of the courtroom. Alex stayed back to gather her things and make sure all the spectators from the gallery left before her. She hoped the protesters and reporters outside the courthouse were gone by now as well. Squeezing through the crowd this morning was enough unwanted physical contact. Maybe she should take the small exit towards 7th Avenue to avoid them, their insults and the nagging questions. She loved her sister, but God, journalists were a pain in the ass.

The only ones still in the courtroom were her and Sawyer, who also seem to try and avoid the crowd outside. She looked over and Alex felt embarrassed for being caught staring. Sawyer tilted her head to the side, studying her for a few seconds.

Alex quickly averted her eyes and focused on packing her case files and notes into her bag. She checked her phone. There was a missed call and a few messages from Kara one from this morning wishing her good luck and one from a few minutes ago.

 **Kara:** How did it go?

 **Alex:** Good. It went well today.

It took only a few seconds for the screen to light up with a new message from her sister.

 **Kara:** I know you forget to eat when you’re stressed, so I got us pizza and potstickers

“You’re my favorite person!” Alex sighed. She looked up. Sawyer was still in the room looking baffled by Alex’s words.

“I meant my sister,” Alex blurted out. It sounded defensively and she internally facepalmed. “Um, it’s my sister. She’s great.” Alex clarified holding up her phone.

“Of course.” Sawyer replied curtly as she started walking out of the courtroom. Then she stopped in her tracks and turned her head slightly. “See you tomorrow, Danvers.”

“Ah yeah, you too.” Alex stuttered before she remembered that Kara was still waiting for her reply.

 **Alex:** I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Please save me a slice.

 **Kara:** I’m not making any promises

 **Alex:** Rude!

\- - - - - - -

They had skipped sister night a few times these past weeks, mainly due to Alex being busy with prepping for James’ case. Kara had been tied up at the Tribune a lot as well. Her article on Lena Luthor had impressed Snapper Carr, which meant he gave her more assignments. Kara had asked to write about James’ trial but, to Alex’s great relief, Snapper had declined that request.

Alex sipped on her beer watching Kara poke at her potstickers lost deep in thought.

“Kar, are you okay?”

“What?” Kara looked up her eyes darting around the room as if she didn’t expect anyone talking to her. “Um, yeah, I’m fine, I really am. Alex, don’t look at me like that.” She tried to smile, but it didn’t last long.

“I’m just worried about James, and…” she trailed off.

“Kara, I’m doing everything I can and today went well.” Alex started, but Kara cut her off.

“I’m worried about you too. All the things these people are saying about him, about you, it’s terrible.”

“Kara, don’t listen to any of that. They don’t know, okay? And I don’t care what they’re saying. Hey, look at me.” She stroked Kara’s chin and gave her a tight hug.

After a few minutes she pulled back, hoping to change the topic and lighten the mood just a little bit.

“So, I saw that byline on the article about L-Corp’s new neutron flow polarity reversion device – very impressive!”

“She really is, erm, it’s really impressive. Lena developed it herself. She’s such an amazing person.” Kara swooned.

“Yeah, you said so after that piece you wrote on her a few weeks ago.” Alex grinned.

“Shut up!” Kara blushed slightly.

“I’m just messing with you. I’m happy you’re making friends.”

“I don’t know,” Kara considered for a moment. “I don’t know, if she’s a friend yet, but, um, she seems like she would need one. Most people still treat her kinda weird because of her family. And she can’t even talk to them because they’re either dead, in prison or on the run. The only other person she has in National City is her girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Alex raised her eyebrow. That meant she owed Lucy 50 bucks. Damnit!

“Yeah, Sam, I met her at the charity gala. They are adorable together.” Kara’s eyes sparkled. The only other time Alex had seen her talk about a couple like this, they’d both been teenagers. Kara was devastated when Justin and Britney, her OTP - Alex had no idea what that stood for - broke up.

“Well, in any case, Lena Luthor would be lucky to have you as a friend, Kara.” Alex put her hand on Kara’s and squeezed them assuringly. “You’re the most wonderful and caring person I know.”

“That’s because the only other people you know, are lawyers.” Kara joked just to have a pillow thrown at her.

“Hey!” She huffed our adjusting her glasses. “Rude!”

“Oh, you deserved it. We’re not all heartless robots.” Alex justified.

“What? Not even your arch nemesis?” Kara teased.

Alex felt a blush creeping up her neck. She didn’t really know why but she suddenly had the to urge to defend Sawyer. How did she even know she was the prosecutor on this case? Oh right, she reminded herself. Kara knew, because it was all over the news and impossible not to know. Alex started feeling queasy, every little detail would be closely watched and analyzed. She stopped herself from overthinking before her anxieties made her spiral and focused back on the conversation. Sawyer, they were talking about Sawyer. It was suddenly very hot and difficult to breathe in Kara’s apartment.

“She, um, well, I think…” Alex trailed off trying very hard to collect her thoughts and not think of the photos she came across during her ‘research’.

“I think this case is tough on her too, and I don’t know, she’s just trying to do her job, I guess.” She shrugged trying to play it cool.

“Hm,” Kara bit the inside of her cheek obviously trying not to grin.

“Whatever.” Alex said annoyed, but Kara’s smile was infectious. “I changed my mind, you’re the worst.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, then Kara’s expression turned somber again.

“I miss James.” She said quietly. “It’s not the same without him at the Tribune, and well, everyone is talking about…” She cut herself off. “I just really miss him.”

“He misses you, too.” Alex assures her. “And these gossips will shut up when James walks out of the courtroom as a free man.”

“If...” Kara injected with a small voice and sad eyes.

“Don’t even think that, Kara.” She scooted closer on the couch wrapping her sister in a tight hug.

“It will be okay. I promise.”

“He doesn’t want you to worry about him. He’s innocent, and I’m doing everything I can to prove it.” She’d never felt so sure about something. She had promised Kara to fight for James, she was determined not to break it.

Alex still had Vasquez leaving no stone unturned in the search for leads that would force the NCPD to reopen the investigation. So far nothing new had come up, but there had to be something. If there was just one tiny piece of evidence that there was another person involved, it would be enough. It was a long shot, but with Kara’s strong belief, that there was always hope, Alex’s cynicism took a backseat. She was hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's vegan chocolate mousse is made with avocado and totally not gross, so if you're interested, let me know ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's POV - this got so gay, I have no words lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a longer update. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and feedback are always appreciated :)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who motivated and inspired me.

Maggie made a detour on her way home to shake off some of the reporters who had been following her, stopping by her office. She went through some of the files Brian had placed on the ever-growing pile on her desk and handed them over to Tara. At least with Olsen’s trial she had an excuse to drop some of the minor cases, which were mostly paperwork. It was the one thing she truly disliked about her job.

When Maggie finally got home, it was already way past 9pm. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Her day had been long and exhausting. All she really wanted was to unwind and fall asleep on the couch watching reruns of some 90s sitcom, not having to care about anything for just a little bit, but her mind wouldn’t let her.

Her thoughts kept going back to the case, to all the people in the gallery and outside the courthouse. To James Olsen, whom some called a hero and others murderer. To Alex Danvers, who she never expected anywhere near a case that didn’t bring any money or prestige and was potentially career wrecking. But there she was, and it seemed like she was invested in the case for personal reasons, but why?

Maggie got to her apartment complex and looked around. She felt like some of the reporters had actually followed her home. It made her a bit queasy, everyone’s attention on her. She needed some distraction from the craziness, something to calm her down, someone to talk to who’d keep an open mind, and just listen and not judge. She thought about going to the bar, M’gann would be that calming influence. But then she felt a pang of guilt. She had completely forgotten about Jules. She should really call her, so she wouldn’t be worried. She hadn’t spoken to her all day and one glance at her phone confirmed that there were several unanswered texts and calls.

She put the phone to her ear and listened to the ringtone. It took several rings for Jules to pick up.

“Hello?” a groggy voice answered.

“Hey babe,” Maggie replied trying to sound cheerful and not as exhausted.

“Maggie, I, is everything okay? I tried calling a few times, but you never picked up and you didn’t reply to any of my texts.” Jules’ voice still sounded tired, tinged with concern.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I was wrapped up in the case and it was crazy. I just got home and thought you might wanna come over.” Maggie suggested, fidgeting with the button on her blazer.

“Mags, it’s late and I have an early shift tomorrow.”

“I just hoped, we’d get a chance to spend some time together. I miss you.” That was a lie and Maggie felt awful. She was so focused on the trial, she had blocked out all aspects of her personal life and had forgotten about Jules. She was possibly the world’s worst girlfriend. At least according to Emily. It was only a matter of time until Jules threw the same accusations at her. So, she tried, she really did.

“Maybe tomorrow night,” Jules replied.

“Um, I,” Maggie stuttered.

“What?” Jules sounded a little annoyed.

“I’m not sure how long I’ll be at court tomorrow and I’ll have to drop by the office again for a meeting with Dean, so it’s probably gonna be really late again.”

“Fine, you know what? If you don’t wanna see me” Jules was cut off by Maggie pleading.

“No, babe, I do wanna see you! It’s just,” she sighed. “I want to give you the attention you deserve and right now, work is just a lot and I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.” 

Jules didn’t say anything.

“How about Saturday? I can cook, and we’ll have a nice romantic evening.” Maggie rushed out.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to check my schedule. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Babe-,“ Maggie started.

“I’m tired, Mags. I’ll text you tomorrow.” Jules replied.

“I’m sorry, I woke you.” Maggie’s voice was small.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Goodnight.” Jules hung up before Maggie had uttered the last syllable.

Shit. Today had already sucked, but now she had yet another reason to drink and vent. She called an Uber to the bar.

\- - - - - - -

M’gann walked over as Maggie nursed her third scotch neat. Al, the other bartender on shift, had not questioned her low growl and just given her whatever she asked for, but her friend wasn’t going to let her get away with brooding silence for much longer.

“What’s wrong?” the bartender asked softly.

“I thought you’re a telepath, don’t you already know?” Maggie snapped at her.

“Cut the crap, Mags. You’re here because you don’t want to be at home drinking alone. You’re here because you do want to talk, so what is it?”

Maggie looked up guiltily.

“Sorry,” Maggie apologized, letting the scotch swirl in the glass. “Today was a lot.”

“So it seems.” M’gann’s eyes softened again. I saw it on the news. Everyone’s talking about it.”

“Yeah,” Maggie sighed taking a swig from her drink. 

“Jules is pissed, because I’m spending so much time working on the case, but it’s not like I have much of a choice.” Maggie blurted out.

“Did she say that?” 

“No! No, she didn’t, but…” she trailed off. Jules didn’t have to say it, but Maggie knew. The tone of her voice, the glint of doubt in her eyes. She didn’t believe Maggie was invested in their relationship as much has she should be, and Maggie had to admit she wasn’t sure she was either. Hell, she wasn’t sure she could be. Today, once again, proved how different their priorities were. Maggie all but forgot there was a person who might be worried about her.

“She didn’t say it, but she might as well have. I just feel like whatever I do, it’s not enough. But it’s all I can do, It’s all I can give her.” Her shoulders sagged. There, she said it. She wasn’t enough. Not for her girlfriend at least, but she was damn good at her job, and if she was completely honest, that’s all she wanted right now.

M’gann put a hand on her shoulder and Maggie immediately felt some relief and her heart rate slowed down. She could tell the bartender saw right through her, knew exactly why she was struggling and why saying it out loud was impossible.

“Do you care about her?” M’gann asked. Maggie noticed the choice of word ‘care’ not ‘love’.

“I do.” Maggie replied with a small voice.

“Then you should be honest with her.”

Maggie felt sick just thinking about how that conversation was going to go. She sipped on her drink and lowered her eyes, concentrating on a round stain on the bar counter.

“There something else?” M’gann asked.

“If this Danvers woman is making you miserable, I knew a few people, who, you know.” M’gann joked, but Maggie waved her hand dismissively.

“She’s not.” Maggie’s reply was curt, but something in her voice must’ve surprised M’gann. She looked at her with big curious eyes. 

“I didn’t expect her to be there. It’s not the kind of case she’d usually take. Like, it’s messy and there’s nothing to gain from it. No prestige, no money. She’s defending Olsen pro bono, and the only reason I can think of is that there’s some personal connection, but I can’t figure it out.” 

“Maybe they’re friends” M’gann suggested.

“They don’t seem like friends.” Maggie tried to remember their interactions at court. They seemed distant, polite but distant and a little awkward.

“Lovers then.” Maggie choked on air.

 “What?” M’gann was confused by Maggie’s reaction. She tried to stop herself from coughing. When she finally did she took another sip from her almost empty glass of scotch before offering M’gann an explanation.

“I-, I don’t think he’s her type,” she stuttered.

“And what would be her type?” M’gann raised an eyebrow.

“Blond.” Maggie replied. “And female.” She added.

M’gann’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, she-”

Maggie cut her off. “Yep.”

“Hm.” She paused. “how do you even know.”

“I ran into her and her very female date at a gay club.” Maggie explained, thinking back to that night a few weeks ago.

“Well, that doesn’t mean she, you know, doesn’t date men.” M’gann did have a point. There was only one way to find out and she had just enough to drink to actually do it. She unlocked her phone.

“What are you,” M’gann cut herself off. And looked at Maggie sliding her fingers over the screen.

Maggie had never stalked someone on social media. Sure, she had looked up Alex Danvers before but only briefly. Apart from her profile on her firm’s website with a short bio and a photo from a few years ago – she had longer and curlier hair back then – and articles about some of the cases she worked on nothing came up. But since Danvers had admitted to “having done her homework” Maggie was intrigued what she could dig up. She remembered Danvers blushing slightly when she told her, so Maggie had an idea what she might’ve had found. 

She entered “Alex Danvers” in the search bar on Facebook. Nothing. She changed the search to just “Danvers”. There were several results. One was the site of a small town in Massachusetts, several people in other states or countries, and in California there was a Dr. Eliza Danvers – Maggie flinched at the first name – and a somewhat familiar looking blonde named Kara Danvers. No Alex Danvers. She clicked on the profile of Kara Danvers.

She gasped. That was the girl she had seen with Danvers a few weeks ago. She had not recognized her right away, because the last time she had seen her her eyes were puffy and filled with tears. On her profile picture she was smiling the biggest most infectious smile, so genuine and warm it could melt the icecaps in The Arctic. Her About page revealed, that she was 26, had graduated from National City University and had been working as a reporter for two years. She didn’t strike Maggie as the hard-hitting journalist asking uncomfortable questions, but maybe there was more to her than meets the eye. Two family members were listed, mother, Dr. Eliza Danvers, and a sister, A.D. Bingo.

A.D. didn’t have a public profile, no profile picture, nothing. She had more questions now than before. She went back to Kara Danvers’ profile and scrolled through her pictures. There was an entire photo album dedicated to puppies, and Maggie felt her face light up looking through them. Maggie scrolled past ‘Desserts and Other Reasons To Live’ to an album title ‘Superfriends’.

Maggie skimmed through them. Most of them included people smiling into the camera at parties, camping trips, the beach. She took a closer look. There was a picture of the blonde with her arm on Alex Danvers’ shoulder. Maggie gulped. Her heart started beating faster. Danvers was in a wetsuit and a bikini top, water still dripping down her perfect abs. She was clutching a surfboard in one hand and the other was draped around her sister’s waist. Her hair was tousled from the wind and the salt water and she was squinting against the sun. A surfer. A very hot surfer.

Maggie forced herself to look up for a second still dazed to stop her mind from conjuring other scenarios that included surfer Alex Danvers at the beach, just to notice M’gann grinning back at her. She felt her cheeks blush furiously and looked back down. She blamed the scotch clearly it was time to sober up a little. M’gann was gracious enough to pretend to have other things to do and walked away grabbing a glass to polish.

Maggie looked at the photo for another split second and swiped to look at the other ones. After several more beach pictures, Maggie was relieved to find a few more recent ones captioned ‘Game Night’ from ten months ago. She noticed a few more of the faces. There was Lucy Lane, another lawyer from Danvers’ firm, the Danvers sisters hugging and smiling, and cute couple who were celebrating their win at Taboo, Barry and Iris according to the captions, and a tall guy, Oliver, who apparently had just lost to them, was sulking on the couch. There was a shot of Alex Danvers, holding up a glass of red wine toasting to the camera. Her face was softly lit, and her eyes sparkled. The caption read ‘She threatened to kill me, if I didn’t delete this, but I think she’s perfect.’

“Wow,” Maggie mumbled before she could stop herself. She had a girlfriend and gushing over her opposing counsel on a case was the last thing she should be doing right now. She asked M’gann for a glass of water, which she promptly provided with a knowing smile.

She was ready to close the app, when a photo from only a few weeks ago caught her attention. There was Kara Danvers smiling as she always did, in the arms to James Olsen. They were on a date at some very fancy and very romantic restaurant and the caption was a simple heart emoji. Maggie’s jaw dropped. That was the connection. James Olsen was not in a relationship with Alex Danvers, but with her younger sister, Kara.

“Are you okay?” M’gann asked. “You look a little pale.”

“Um, no, I mean, I’m good. I’m just tired and it’s really late. I better get home.” Maggie put a few bills on the counter to pay for her drinks and got up to leave.

“Want me to call you a cab?”

“Um, no, I got this.” Maggie replied, opening the app to request an Uber.

She said her goodbyes as she walked out the bar. The cold air sobered her up and sharpened her senses. Alex Danvers was defending James Olsen, because he was a friend and possibly even more than that to her sister, Kara.

She wasn’t sure what to think of that and before she could make up her mind, her ride turned around the corner. A guy with curly red hair and a scruffy chin peeked through the rolled down passenger window.

“Are you Maggie?” he asked. She nodded and opened the door to climb into the backseat.

They drove the few minutes to Maggie’s apartment building in silence, apart from the driver humming along to an 80’s song and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel during the instrumental part. He shyly glanced at the review mirror and smiled when Maggie started humming along as well. When they reached her place, he wished her a good night and waited until she had entered the building before he drove off.

Maggie climbed the stairs to her apartment in a doze. She fumbled with her keys for a moment before she managed to open the door and kicked it shut behind her. She shrugged off her clothes on the way to her bedroom and let herself fall face first onto the soft pillows. She was asleep within a few seconds, her intoxicated mind conjuring up dreams of half-dressed surfers in courtrooms, Judge Grant playing taboo with the jurors and James Olsen slow-dancing with Kara Danvers to the tune of Africa by Toto. 

\- - - - - - -

She woke up to the excruciating ring of her alarm with a pounding headache and the strong resolve to never drink again. This week was going to kill her. She rolled over and dragged herself out of bed.

The big sunglasses she had put on helped keep the headache in check and also prevented any of the reporters from getting too close to her as she entered the courthouse. The day passed in a bit of a haze. A homeless guy named Marv, who had witnessed the scene, was next on the stand. He confirmed that Guardian had indeed trapped Roberts by tying him up to the street lamp and then left, but her also testified that only a few moments later he returned gun held up and shot the defenceless thief. Of course, Danvers had a bunch of questions during her cross-examination. Maggie had a little trouble keeping up.

“Are you sure that’s who you saw?”

“Yes, he wore the same mask.” he replied.

“But anyone could’ve worn a mask like that. Halloween is next week and similar masks have been on sale since before the murder. A copycat could’ve easily bought one.”

 “Objection, Your Honor. That’s speculation.” Maggie managed to say.

“Sustained.” Judge Grant called out. “Please continue, Ms. Danvers.”

“Right, um, did you notice any other similarities.”

“It was the same guy, same mask, same height, he took off for a minute and then came back with the gun. He probably only left to go get it.” Maggie looked at the jury. That explanation did seem reasonable to most of them. Danvers on the other hand was struggling to make them understand that it was speculation and there were many other possibilities. She also tried to question his judgement indicating a possible substance abuse. They didn’t buy it — she could tell.

By the end of the day Maggie’s headache was gone, instead Danvers was miserable. She saw her talking to a tall older man after she left the courtroom that day. J’onn J’onzz she remembered him from the pictures on Kara Danvers’ Facebook page and from the news reports about several big trials in the past. He seemed to be comfort and encourage her, like some kind of mentor or father figure. Maggie had to admit that she was a bit jealous of Danvers’ vast and caring support system. Maggie didn’t have that. She wasn’t great at making friends and her family didn’t want her. She resisted the urge to drown her self-pity.

The next witness on the stand was Detective Joss Carter. She had lead the investigation against Guardian. She explained that with the all witness statements and the evidence found at the scene, nothing indicated that anyone other than James Olsen killed Paul Roberts. With so much at stake Maggie knew that Danvers would leave nothing left untested during cross-examination. She was right. It took all day and most of the following.

During a short lunch break she saw Danvers sitting with Lucy Lane. They were talking. Whether it was about the trial or something else, Maggie couldn’t tell. At one instance Lane looked directly at her and gave her a knowing look. Then she smirked and focused back on Danvers, who apparently hadn’t noticed any of this. Maggie blushed and hurried to get back to the courtroom before it could get any more awkward. She really wanted this week to be over.

Jules had texted her during the week an apologized for being a bit harsh the other night. Maggie felt like she was the one who needed to apologize for several reasons, but she was just glad, they were in a good place again. They made plans for a romantic evening together at Maggie’s apartment on Saturday. She was excited about the chance to take her mind off the trial and everyone involved. Especially Alex Danvers, who kept invading her dreams more frequently now, and not just at night. She found her mind drifting off even during the day, while she was having lunch, or while the court clerk was swearing in a new witness - it was unnerving. Against her better judgement she had looked up Kara Danvers’ Instagram page and came across even more pictures. Alex Danvers

\- - - - - - -

On Friday, it was nearly impossible for her to get up, despite going to bed early and only drinking water the night before. The trial and all the attention, the tension between her and Danvers was taking its toll. It wasn’t downright hostile, like it used to be, but whatever this was right now, was just really awkward.

The day was slow and they were going in circles. The ballistics expert repeated his assessment of the angle from where ‘the shooter’ – Danvers had repeatedly insisted to on not saying ‘Olsen’ -  had been standing. It aligned with the previous statement of the homeless guy they had heard a few days ago. It felt like more than a few days. It felt like weeks. Danvers was obviously trying to buy some time, but it wasn’t working out. Judge Grant and some of the jurors looked increasingly annoyed. There was nothing new to gain from asking the same questions over and over.

Danvers conceded eventually, just to announce that a second opinion was necessary and requested the trial to be adjourned until another expert could be heard. Judge Grant rolled her eyes but granted the request with a stern look.

“You better not waste any more of my time, Ms. Danvers,” she hissed. Danvers shook her head.

The court was adjourned until the next week and everyone just seemed happy to get out of the stuffy room and enjoy the upcoming weekend. Olsen was led out of the room and Danvers stayed behind. She made no effort to get up or leave, staring intently at the notepad in front of her.

Maggie gathered her things and walked over to the defense’s table.

“You’re stalling.”

Danvers looked up at her with big doe eyes, looking offended.

“I-,“ she started and then threw up her hands. “Well, it’s the only thing I could think off.” She fidgeted with the hem of their blazer, looking small and defeated.

Maggie felt guilty. The stalling tactics annoyed her, because this trial and this case exhausted and annoyed her. It was a desperate measure and had she been in that position, she’s probably done the same. She got it, they weren’t so different after all. She sat down opposite Danvers and stuck out her hand.

“How about a truce?” Danvers looked between her hand and her face, squinting a bit as if trying to figure out if it was a trick.

“At least outside of this courtroom.” Maggie added earnestly.

Danvers looked down and seemed to consider Maggie’s proposal. It felt weird still sitting here, hand stretched out, waiting. Maybe it was a dumb idea. She was about to pull her hand back, when Danvers looked back up nodding and then cautiously shook her hand.

“Okay.” It came out as a whisper, but her face lit up and she looked relieved. Danvers’ face mirrored what Maggie felt inside, like a big weight had been lifted, like a battle was put aside, at least for a while and she could breathe again. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, when Danvers’ stomach started growling and she looked at Maggie apologetically.

“Ugh, sorry, I didn’t really eat anything today.” she explained.

“Me neither. Hey, you wanna grab lunch?” The questioned bubbled out and Maggie had no idea how that sounded, but Danvers seemed irritated.

“It’s 6pm. That’s a little late for lunch,” she replied dryly.

“Dinner then.”

Danvers tilted her head and regarded her with curious eyes. Maggie like there were a million eyes on her, judging her right in this very moment. Was this weird? It was just food, wasn’t it? Also, how is there no word for a meal between lunch and dinner? Brunch is a thing, and no one is judging people about brunching. As if she had been considering the same question Danvers suddenly spoke up.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m starving,” she blurted out and then looked at Maggie shyly, a slight blush tinging her pale skin. Beautiful.

“In that case,” Maggie got up clearing her throat. “I know a place just a few blocks down on Abbott. They make great burgers.”

“Well, then, lead the way, Sawyer.” Danvers said enthusiastically.

\- - - - - - -

“I’ve never been to this place, and I thought I knew all the best spots.” Danvers mumbled from behind the menu. It was a cute little hole in the wall Maggie had stumbled upon a while back. There were only a few small tables in a retro design and the walls were covered with artsy collectibles.

“You don’t trust my judgement, Danvers.” Maggie joked. Her eyes were still glued to the menu, even though she was going to order the same thing as always.

“Not particularly.” Danvers smirked.

“I’m hurt.” Maggie clutched her chest dramatically.

Danvers put the menu down. “Everything on here sounds so,” Maggie pulled up her eyebrows questioningly.

“You said they had good burgers, but” she ducked down a bit and lowered her voice so none of the other guests or any of the waiters would hear her. “They only have freaky sounding stuff. Like what the hell is a quinoa patty? Where are the regular burgers?” She held up the menu twisting and turning it like a map she couldn’t read. Maggie started laughing and Danvers looked helpless.

“Um, they have mostly vegetarian dishes.” Maggie explained. Danvers looked appalled.

“Gross!”

“Oh no, trust me, they are really good. But, um, if you do want meat, there’s a chicken avocado wrap on the second page.”

Danvers looked disgusted. She flipped through a few of the pages and sighed.

“Oh my God, are you pouting?” Maggie chuckled. It was endearing. A bit dramatic and childish but endearing nonetheless.

“No.” She schooled her expression. “Okay, maybe a little. I was really looking forward to a juicy burger and some fries.”

It was Maggie’s turn to be grossed out. “Well you can continue your artery clogging diet any day, but I prefer not to get a heart attack at 35.”

At that Danvers looked up and smirked.

“What?”

“Oh, um, nothing.” She avoided Maggie’s eyes. “I was gonna make a dumb joke, but never mind. I’m sorry.” 

Before Maggie could reply their waiter showed up to take their orders. She got her regular the grilled Portobello supreme burger with a salad and iced hibiscus tea. Danvers ordered the recommended chicken avocado wrap with a side order of sweet potato fries and a caramel almond milk shake.

After a few attempts at small talk that ended up with several minutes staring around awkwardly, they found their rhythm and the conversation flowed easily. She was surprised how much they actually had in common. They both liked horror movies, motorbikes – Danvers told her about her Ducati Monster and just the thought of it made Maggie sweat a little. They both liked dogs and in Maggie’s opinion anyone who loved dogs, must be a good person. Then again, the idea of naming a puppy “Gertrude” seemed beyond cruel and inhumane.

They kept talking even when their food was delivered to the small table. Despite the initial whining Alex dug in and in less than ten minutes the wrap and most of the fries were gone.

“Wow, that’s’ quite the appetite you got there.” Maggie remarked motioning at the empty plate.

Alex stopped chewing and looked at her bashfully, gulping down a mouthful of fries. She took a sip of the shake to wash them down.

“Sorry, I’m just used to eating fast. I don’t get a lot of time in the office and at home, my sister starts stealing my food, if I don’t keep up. She has like an alien stomach. No joke! Kara can eat a ton and not gain any weigh, it’s super unfair.” She joked lovingly.

Maggie grinned.

“You and your sister, um, you close?” She felt a little guilty pretending like she didn’t already know.

“Yeah, we are.” Alex smiled. “I mean I used to hate her when we were younger, but now, we’re closer than ever. She’s my favorite person. I can talk to her about anything and we support each other in everything we do.”

“That sound great.” Maggie admitted.

“What about you?” Alex asked. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Yeah, um, I have a younger brother. He still lives in Blue Springs, but we’re not-” She paused to steady herself. The question caught her off guard, but she tried not to let it show. “I’m not really close to anyone in my family.”

Alex’s gaze was warm and comforting. It made her want to open up, which surprised her. Usually she couldn’t wait to put up walls around people, but right now all she wanted to do was tear them down.

“My parents, they,” she swallowed. “My parents didn’t take the whole gay thing that well.” Maggie hoped that Alex wouldn’t ask any questions, and luckily, she didn’t. She just looked at her, not with pity, but compassion.

“I’m sorry.” She said softly. Maggie took a sip of her water and a few steadying breaths. She didn’t expect to let the conversation with a woman she loathed, at least until a few days ago, get so personal. It was unnerving, and Maggie was desperately trying to find a way to change the subject, but her mind was blank. Thankfully Alex seemed aware of her struggle and provided an out.

They switched back to lighter topics for a while. Alex turned out be a complete nerd. She was initially studying to be a scientist, but then changed her major to law, because even though science came easy to her, she felt more passionately about justice. Maggie could see where she was coming from, even though they stood on opposite sides of it.

“All I’m saying is that sometimes the justice system gets it wrong and then people need someone to fight for them.” Alex explained.

“Even entitled rich douchbags?” Maggie smirked.

“Yes, even entitled rich douchbags.” Alex rolled her eyes, but then her face turned wistful. “Trust me I know, how we all seem like vultures, without any moral compass defending scum, but occasionally there are these cases and they pay the bills. In one way these rich, entitled douchbags make sure we can fight for those who deserve it, but can’t afford it.

Maggie knew she shouldn’t bring up anything about Olsen, not since they had made a truce and talking about the case was all kinds of problematic, but she had to know.

“Can I ask you a question and can you answer it honestly - off the record, of course?”

“Um, yes.”

“Do you believe it?” She didn’t clarify any further, but Alex seemed to understand anyway.

“I do.” She said softly, and Maggie noticed her eyes sparkling with conviction. Maggie was prepared to just leave it at that, but Alex continued to speak. 

“I believe James Olsen is innocent. I know he’s a good man. And however stupid and dangerous that whole vigilante thing is, he did it because he wanted to help.”

“In the most misguided way possible.” Maggie couldn’t help but comment. “But you really believe that there was another shooter?”

“Yeah,” Alex said without hesitation.

“This is still off the record, right” She checked in.

“Um, yes.”

“I just need to find a way to prove it. Like, there are CCTV cameras all over the city. They surely picked up something. But no one can’t look at the footage unless they got a warrant…or someone who can access it some other way.” She slumped down in her seat. Maggie guessed that the DEO investigator, Vasquez or something, had probably already tried to hack into the system without any success.

“You know, even if someone did access the system, whatever they’d find would not be admissible as evidence in court. Not to mention that it’s illegal.” Maggie reasoned.

“I know that, but it would force the cops to reopen the investigation and follow a new lead, I’m sure they’d find the real killer.” Alex seemed convinced and Maggie believed her. She tried to silence the voice in her head that kept telling her that she knew just the right person to help Alex out, but she couldn’t do that, could she?

She was a prosecutor. She was supposed to do everything to see justice served, but the feeling in her stomach that in this case, sentencing the man on trial to a lifetime in prison didn’t feel right. It didn’t’ feel like justice at all. Maybe it was the long week, or the protesting masses outside the courthouse still holding up signs praising Olsen as a hero. Maybe it was because Alex believed it, but suddenly Maggie wasn’t sure, if she stood on the right side anyore.

She hadn’t said anything in a while and she worried Alex would read something into it, so she cleared her throat. “Well, if he is innocent, I hope something will work out. I really do.”

“Thanks.” Alex replied. She seemed somewhat lost in thought. “Um, I should probably get going.”

“Sure.” Maggie waved her hand to get the waiters attention and asked for the check. Before she left Alex went to the bathroom. Maggie sat by herself her mind racing. This was stupid. She shouldn’t have done that. She should’ve kept her distance from Alex. But now she was here. They had dinner – or lunch, or whatever – together. They talked about everything and nothing, and Maggie had enjoyed it.

This was all kinds of wrong. This was stupid. She glanced over to the restroom door. Before she could stop herself, she fished a pen out of her bag and scribbled Winn’s number on a napkin and stuck it into Alex’s bag. He could crack any system, so he was the best shot Alex had. If James Olsen was innocent and there was a way to prove it, it was probably worth it.

She looked up and saw Alex smiling at her from across the room walking back towards her and there was a swooping sensation in her stomach. Maggie swallowed the lump that had been building in her throat. She was going to be in real trouble.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's POV - One step forward, two steps back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, I'm back.
> 
> Sorry this took forever, but life and massive writer's block got in the way. I still don't feel 100 % confident about this chapter, but I thought done is better than perfect. It was also supposed to be a little longer, but then the last bit made more sense in the next chapter.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to your comments and feedback :)

The door dinged when Alex walked into Noonan’s. She looked around to find Lucy sitting close to the bar flirting shamelessly with one of the waiters. Alex hadn’t seen him before, so he must be new. She and Lucy had been having brunch here every other Saturday for the last two years.

“Hey, sorry, I’m late.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Patrick here was very pleasant company.” Lucy winked at the scrawny boy, who immediately blushed violently and then hurried away.

“You scared him off.” Lucy whined.

“He looked twelve. People are gonna call you a panther.”

“Cougar,” Lucy corrected, looking slightly offended.

“Whatever.” Alex plunged down in the chair opposite her. “From what I remember you also have a girlfriend.”

“It’s called being charming, Alex. You should try it sometime. People might actually like you.”

“People do like me.” Alex huffed.

“No, they’re scared of you. They do what you ask, because they’re afraid you’ll go all Wicked Witch of the West on them.” 

“Well, the people who matter like me.”

“Oh, yes. Clearly.” Lucy smirked and then just rolled her eyes at Alex’s apparent confusion.

Her mind was still slow and Lucy made no sense, which was the case most of the time when she started to use some kind of social media lingo, where half of the words were seemingly random emojis or when she communicated solely in memes. But this time her inability to follow Lucy’s thoughts could easily be attributed to the lack of coffee and food. She intended to quickly remedy that and flicked through the menu.

“Why do you even bother looking? You have the same thing every time.”

“Maybe I wanna try something new,” Alex simply said while scanning the page with the pancakes and waffles. Kara was the only person she knew who could finish the signature stack of four chocolate blueberry pancakes all on her own. Alex didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, unless she was stressed or confused, which was all the time recently.

“Do you now?”

The tone of the question and the way Lucy arched an eyebrow suggested she wasn’t really talking about her breakfast order, but Alex wasn’t sure why her best friend was being so ominous. She debated for a moment, but ended up sticking with what she knew and liked and ordered her regular - a breakfast burrito and a large cappuccino with two extra shots of espresso - while Lucy had tea and a bowl of granola with fruits and yoghurt. Patrick returned with their breakfast only a few minutes later, which earned him a grateful grunt from Alex, who immediately grabbed the cappuccino and took a huge gulp, and a warm smile from Lucy.

“So, tell me what’s going on,” Lucy demanded, shoving a large spoon full of granola into her mouth.

“Ugh, it’s just this trial. The press is all over it, people are being obnoxious and I’m not getting anywhere without any new leads,” Alex summarized and sighed. Things looked pretty bleak.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You always do.” Alex was grateful for the attempt to cheer her up.

“I hope so.”

“And what about you and Sawyer, what’s going on there?” Lucy asked out of the blue. Alex was baffled, her heart started beating faster and her hands started sweating. The result of too much caffeine, obviously.

“Um, what? Nothing! Why,” she cleared her throat, “why do you ask?” When did her voice get so squeaky?

“Well for one, you’ve been acting strange around each other for the past couple of weeks. Like, not your usual ‘I hate you so much for no good reason’ kind of strange. It’s like watching the awkward mating rituals of teenagers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cute in a way, but also, it’s really fucking annoying, and I just got to know!” Lucy gestured dramatically during the last bit of her speech.

Alex tried to process all the things Lucy had just dropped on her.

“I don’t know what you mean. We just got food together. That’s all. There was no,” Alex recollected, but Lucy cut her off.

“You did what?” she scream whispered.

“Relax, it was just lunch, well late lunch, or dinner, I guess.” she shrugged. “And don’t worry, I was friendly - no yelling, or anything. We made a truce and then got food. It was nice,” she concluded. Alex was slightly concerned. Lucy looked like she was going to have an aneurism.

“Luce, are you okay?”

Lucy held up a hand, as if to stop her from talking and clutched the armrest of her chair with the other.

“So, let me get this straight. You go on a date with DA Maggie Sawyer, and you tell me this now. I’m your best friend, Alex! Your. Best. Friend!” She fumed.

“What? No! First of all, it was only dinner, not a date. Second, it was yesterday, so you’re basically the first person I told.”

“Wait,” Lucy tilted her head. “That doesn’t explain why you’ve been acting all weird for the past…” she trailed off, counting back with her fingers and then finally yelled out “Six weeks!”

“Alexandra Caroline Danvers! What happened six weeks ago?”

“That’s not my middle name.”

“Answer the fucking question!” Lucy demanded.

Alex had been on the receiving end of Lucy’s pseudo-military-interrogation-style of questioning a few times, but it still terrified her a little. She was racking her brain. Six weeks ago, she had learned of James’ Guardian escapades and agreed to help him. Six weeks ago, she comforted her sister right in this very restaurant. Six weeks ago, they went to that club to celebrate, and oh.

“Oh.”

“Alex!”

Alex blushed furiously. She had managed to keep Lucy in the dark about what was definitely one of the top five most humiliating moments in her life. She would never let her live that one down, but there was no going back. She decided it was better to get it over with fast, like ripping off a bandaid.

“When we were at that club, you and Vas had already left and then I ran into Maggie and spilled drinks on her and then Sara suggested a threesome and it was obviously just a joke and we left, but the whole thing was so embarrassing, and can we please never talk about it ever again?” Alex blurted out.

Her eyes were pinned to her plate and she was expecting Lucy to have a laughing fit any second now, but nothing happened. She looked back up. Lucy’s face was twisted into a grimace of amusement, confusion, pity and a little bit of anger. After sitting quietly for what seemed like several minutes, she took a deep breath.

“Alex, you’re a fucking gay disaster and I love you, but seriously, how can anyone be so oblivious?” She shook her head.

“What do you mean?” Alex urged, but Lucy chose not to answer her question and focused on her granola instead.

Alex blushed. Was Lucy suggesting that Maggie liked her? That seemed a bit far-fetched. She had been an ass most of the time they knew each other and just because they had an unspoken agreement not to talk about that night at the club, didn’t really mean anything. But then again last night was fun and Alex had not felt so comfortable with anyone so quickly since Lucy, or Jane from college or Vicky from High School.

“She’s probably just being nice. This trial is pretty though on her too,” she reasoned.

Lucy rolled her eyes and Alex started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. It was already pretty late, and she promised Kara to update her on the trial and how James was doing. She asked Patrick for the check and insisted on paying, hoping it would appease Lucy enough to let the whole Maggie-thing go, at least for now.

When she pulled her wallet from her bag a crumbled napkin fell out that she didn’t remember putting in there. She took a closer look. Lucy mirrored her confused yet curious expression.

“What’s that?”

“Not sure. It looks like a phone number,” Alex concluded pointing at some smudged numbers.

“SHE GAVE YOU HER NUMBER?!” Lucy yelled.

Alex looked around at the other customers, who’s heads where turned towards them. She cleared her throat and most them looked away focusing back on the content of their own plates and conversations.

“This could be anyone’s number.” Alex tried and failed to convince Lucy and herself. 

Did Maggie really sneak her phone number into her bag? Was it possible she saw more in this, more in her than work? Maybe a friend? Maybe more? Her heart started beating a little faster at the thought.

“Yeah right!” Lucy tried to grab the napkin, but Alex pulled back her hands.

“You gotta call her. Right now.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. You owe it to me, Alex.”

“I owe you nothing.” Alex countered.

She hated how breathless her voice sounded at the mere prospect of calling Maggie. There were friends, or well, at least they weren’t enemies anymore. Hopefully. They spent a nice evening together and it was so easy to talk to her, but what if this was all just to throw her off her game. Could she really trust Maggie? Maybe enlisting Lucy to help figuring out her intentions wasn’t the worst idea. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll call.”

Lucy had been ready to argue and now seemed baffled by Alex’s sudden change of heart. “You sure?”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

Alex started dialing the number, fingers trembling slightly. The she stopped.

“Does this look like a ‘5’ or a ‘9’ to you?” She held up the napkin for Lucy to see.

“I’d say it’s a ‘5’ and a bit of ketchup.”

Alex finished dialing the number and listened to the ringtone. After the forth ring a man’s voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Sorry. Who’s this?” Alex stuttered.

“It’s Winn.”

“Schott,” he added.

“I, um, sorry, wrong number.” Alex stammered and quickly hung up.

She tried dialing the number again this time with a ‘9’ instead, but the number wasn’t registered. She looked up at Lucy, who seemed to try really hard to figure out what was going on.

“It’s not her number, just some random dude’s. Probably some stupid joke and I fell for it.” Alex explained hoping she didn’t sound as disappointed and confused as she felt, but her voice betrayed her. Lucy’s features softened.

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, tossing the napkin aside. “Whatever.” 

 

\- - - - - - -

 

Alex spent the rest of the weekend overthinking and overanalyzing all that had happened between her and Maggie – no Sawyer. She had clearly read the situation wrong. Having dinner once didn’t make them friends or anything. Nothing had changed. They still stood on opposing sides. She never should’ve let her guard down. But she knew better now. She’d keep her distance in the future.

Come Monday though, the mix of humiliation, curiosity and anger still consumed her and made it impossible to focus on anything else. It wouldn’t go away, no matter how many laps she ran in the park, or how hard she hit the heavy bag in the gym, or how many hugs Kara gave her, or how many powdered donuts she ate. She had to get it out of her system and the best way to do that was to confront Sawyer about her silly little prank and give her a piece of her mind.

Alex spotted her walking through the side entrance of the courthouse, avoiding the ever growing crowd of reporters and protesters. She walked over, towering in front of her. The two and a half inches she had on Sawyer really made her feel a lot more confident.

“Hey Sawyer, you have a minute?” Alex barked.

“Not really, I-“

She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, dark rings under puffy red eyes. Had she been crying? All the cold anger Alex had felt only a few seconds ago melted away in an instant. Instead worry washed over her. Damnit.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said quietly. She didn’t sound fine. “What did you wanna talk about?”

“I, um,” Alex muttered. She felt petty bringing this up now, maybe she had it all wrong after all, but she continued anyway. “That number you gave me-“ she was cut off by surprisingly strong hands grabbing her arm and pulling her around a corner.

“What the fuck?” She hissed below her breath.

Sawyer looked around conspiratorial. She suddenly stood really close and Alex felt her warm breath on her skin as she spoke in a low voice.

“Is he gonna help you?”

It took Alex a moment to concentrate enough to untangle the words and make sense of them. “Wait what?”

“Winn? Is he gonna help you? Never mind, we shouldn’t talk about this. Not here.” The confusion must have been apparent on her face. “You did call him, right?”

“I, um, I did, but, well…” she trailed off feeling stupid for assuming the worst, when Maggie was apparently trying to help her, with what Alex wasn’t’ sure.

“What you thought, I was leading you on?” Maggie sounded defensive and took a step back.

“No!”

Alex took a step forward bringing up her hands as if to try and calm Maggie down and wave the accusations away.

“No, I, ugh,” she made a frustrated little noise. There was no way to say this without humiliation herself any further.

“I just thought it was your number and then some guy answered, and,” she paused once more to take a steadying breath, “I wasn’t sure what it was all about, and, I feel like an ass for jumping to conclusions, and, well, I’m sorry.” She dropped her hands to her side in defeat. Maggie tilted her head, it made her look smaller and more vulnerable, but it was Alex who felt defenseless. Then Maggie gave her a lopsided grin.

“Geez, Danvers, if you wanted my number, why didn’t you just ask for it?” Maggie added a wink at the end of the question for good measure.

Alex’s jaw slacked. She tried very hard to form words and come up with a witty reply, but the moment was gone quickly and so was Maggie’s smile along with her dimples. She turned to walk to the courtroom. Not even giving Alex another chance to speak. This would have to wait.

As soon as Alex got a grip of herself she sent a text to Vasquez instructing her to contact Schott and brief him on all the details of the case, so they could get started on their investigation right away. She had wasted two whole days not trusting Maggie, she wouldn’t lose any more time now.

 

\- - - - - - -

 

The day dragged on. In court it was a back and forth between the two ballistic experts, discussing reports, projectiles, angles and traces of gunshot residue. Alex pointed out how none of which was found on James’ disguise.

“He could’ve gotten rid of it and only shown the detectives a clean one”, Maggie retorted.

It was inconclusive, but it bought her some time much to the annoyance of Judge Grant, the jury and pretty much everyone else in that courtroom.

There were still too many people who wanted to witness the trial to fit them all in the gallery, the attention hadn’t died down, to the contrary. Murmurs were getting louder for James to be called to the stand.

When they took a recess for lunch, Alex called Vasquez. As it turned out Winn Schott Jr. was a freelance IT expert, who made a name for himself - at least to people working in the same field - hacking into security systems revealing weak spots and helping to secure them in the future. He had also been a consultant for the Justice Department in two of the cases Maggie had worked on in the past. He was exactly, who Alex needed right now and no. It almost seemed too good to be true.

Vasquez told her Schott quickly agreed to working with them or rather with James and they were already going through security camera and CCTV footage and other sources digging up potential leads. Apparently the hacker ‘always had a thing for superheroes’. Alex rolled her eyes at that. What a nerd. This was not a comic book or movie. James had a shield and some impressive karate moves, but no superhuman abilities. For a second Alex got lost in thought about a world where people could fly, had super-speed or bulletproof skin. These powers surely would come in handy when fighting crime, but how would that work on a day to day basis? There would be a bunch of interesting cases to deal with, at least from a lawyer’s perspective. She snapped out of it, when they were called for the court to be back in session.

She walked back in to sit next to James, sneaking glances over to Maggie, who looked even more upset and exhausted than this morning. She had been on her phone during lunch and whatever the person on the other end was saying had made her flinch multiple times as she sunk down further in her chair. Someone should definitely cheer her up, give her a hug or just, be there – as a friend.

“Will the prosecution call any more witnesses today?” Judge Grant addressed Maggie as soon as the court was back in session.

“Yes, Your Honor.” She said decisively, looking over at Alex with an apologetic look on her face.

“The prosecution calls James Olsen to the stand.”

Voices in the gallery grew louder again and Judge Grant gave a quick warning and a tap with the gavel to remind people, to stay calm. Alex gave James a supportive nod. They had prepared for this in countless meetings going over all the details and how James should answer each question genuinely and calmly. It was best to appear as non-threatening as possible especially in times where people scared much too easily.

As he rose and walked over to the stand, all eyes were on him. Even though they all tried to keep their expression as neutral as possible, some members of the jury did seem intimidated. Whether this was positive or negative wasn’t quite clear, but they’d soon find out.

The bailiff swore James in and Maggie started with her first basic questions. Alex watched closely for the jury’s reactions. It wasn’t conclusive. Some seemed to have made up their minds already, their eyes drifting off during James’ recollection of the night Roberts was found dead. Others were following every word, their eyes glued to his lips. Had they not been summoned as jurors they’d probably be found in the gallery or outside the courthouse holding up sings in support of their local hero. And then there were a few scribbling down notes, eyes flicking back and forth between James and Maggie, and occasionally looking at Judge Grant or the people in the gallery. Those undecided ones were who Alex would have to convince.

Her eyes moved over from the jury box to Maggie, who now back in her element, looked strong and determined as she gracefully moved around the room. There was a fire and passion in her eyes that she hadn’t really noticed before. Or she had, but it didn’t make her feel the way it did now. A few months ago, it would’ve annoyed her or made her angry, but knowing more about Maggie, where she came from, what she went through, it flooded Alex’s heart with admiration.

She must’ve been staring because one of the jurors in the backrow, wearing a black hoodie with a symbol, Alex had seen before, but couldn’t remember where, and sporting bluish green hair started grinning at her knowingly. Alex cleared her throat and they looked back down, starting to furiously scribble something down on their notepad.

Judge Grant seemed irritated and looked at her expectantly. “You wanted to say something, Ms. Danvers?” 

“I, um, no, not right now, Your Honor. Just a dry throat, is all,” she lied lamely and demonstratively took a sip from the glass of water placed in front of her. Maggie furrowed her brows, her expression unreadable and then turned back to James.

Judge Grant gave a small wave with her hand, “Please continue, Ms. Sawyer.”

In that very moment, the screen on Alex’s phone lit up with a notification for a new text message.

 **Vasquez:** This dude is good. CCTV footage didn’t give us anything new, but seems like we got something else

That was fast. Three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen. Then there was a link to an article of the Opal City Examiner, followed by another text from Vasquez.

 **Vasquez:** Paul Roberts wasn’t some random thief

“Right, as I was saying,” Maggie resumed her examination, but Alex cut her off.

“Um, I’m sorry, Your Honor.” She stood up. “May I approach the bench?”

The judge looked at her with a hint of annoyance, then at Maggie, who looked irritated but gave a small nod. They walked up to the bench and stood shoulder by shoulder in front of Judge Grant. Alex clutched her phone more tightly as she spoke up.

“I was just informed by my associates, that there are some new information about the victim that are crucial to this case. I’d like to file a motion to adjourn the trial until all relevant information can be examined by the defense.” She glanced at Maggie.

“And the prosecution, of course,” she added. 

“Does the prosecution support this motion?” Judge Grant asked nonchalantly.

Maggie stared at Alex intensely for a few moments and then turned her head to face the judge. “Yes, Your Honor. If there really is something new that could decide this case, it’s worth having a closer look.”

“Well then, motion granted.” She took a look at her watch and smiled. “I might actually make it in time to pick up my son from school for once. This court is adjourned until Tuesday next week.”

She leaned forward to Alex. “I hope you’re not just wasting everyone’s time, Ms. Danvers.” she said in a low, slightly threatening voice.

“I’m not, Your Honor.”

 

 - - - - - - -

 

She hung back and waited for everyone to leave the courtroom, trying to read the article Vasquez had sent her. She failed to see the connection between a mob crime on the East Coast and this case just yet. But she was sure this was a start and it was al thanks to Maggie. She felt an intense surge of gratitude and started walking over unsure what to say.

Maggie had resumed stuffing files in her bag after glaring at her phone for a solid 3 minutes and clenching her jaw. She jumped a little when Alex approached clearly not having noticed anyone else was still in the room.

“Hey, are you okay?” Alex asked tentatively standing still like she was trying not to scare Maggie off.

“I’m fine.” she replied dryly and it was as unconvincing now as it was this morning.

“You don’t look fine.” Alex blurted out and then shocked by her own bluntness just quietly added “I’m sorry.”

Maggie didn’t look offended, but wore the same exhausted expression Alex noticed earlier. She her gave a small sigh and then a shrugging motion.

“It’s whatever.”

Alex felt the urge to comfort and cheer Maggie up rise again, but she didn’t know where they stood and she didn’t want to overstep any personal or professional boundaries, so she took a small step back.

“Well, if you ever want to talk anything or just, I dunno, get drinks…” she trailed off and gave Maggie a reassuring smile.

She walked to the door, turning around before heading out. She noticed a piece of crumbled paper on the floor next to the jury box and picked it up. It revealed a small doodle of Maggie questioning James. Alex was drawn with literal heart eyes staring adoringly at Maggie. Was she really being that obvious? She looked back at Maggie, who gave a small nod and a forced dimple-less smile.

“Thank you, Maggie.”

“See you around, Danvers.” The way the four words rolled of Maggie’s tongue in a soft voice, filled Alex’s chest with a warm and soothing sensation. She had it bad and apparently everyone could see it. She chastised herself, way to develop a crush on the opposing counsel in the middle of a career defining trial. This kind of thing only happened in movies, in very bad, very cheesy movies. Kara would love it, if her the freedom of someone she cared for so deeply wasn’t at stake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a big shoutout to my grammar mistake and plothole detectives. You guys are amazing!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's POV - Pool and drinks...what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, I hope you enjoyed the holidays. I'm back and just in time before 20gayteen ends.  
> Sorry it took so long...again, but I really hope you enjoy this update. I'm looking forward to your comments and feedback.
> 
> *** indicates a flashback ***

When Maggie got home that night, she found a cardboard box sitting in front of her apartment door. As she approached it, she spotted the dark blue sweatshirt she hadn’t seen in a few weeks and knew Jules kept as a reminder of her. Now she didn’t want that reminder anymore or any of the other things Maggie had left at her apartment or given to her as a romantic gesture. 

She didn’t want her anymore and Maggie couldn’t blame her. She blew it. Again. Another failed relationship. They had only been together for a few weeks, but that didn’t mean Jules’ words hurt any less. It made it worse. Maggie had heard them all before.

Emily had told her she didn’t deserve to be happy. It was the grief over finding out Maggie had cheated on her after being with her for five years. It was harsh, but it was the truth. She had felt guilt and shame, wanting to hide away from the world, so nobody would see what a terrible person she was.

And now? Maggie didn’t cheat on Jules, not in that way at least. She prioritized work and lately she used work as an excuse, trying to avoid loaded conversations about the future, about where she wanted things to go. She wasn’t ready for it. She hoped her feelings would eventually start making more sense. That they would change. That she would be the girlfriend she wanted to be, the one Jules deserved. But she wasn’t yet. Maybe not ever. In her heart Maggie knew, she couldn’t avoid these truths forever. She already felt they were drifting apart, but for now she held on, refusing to accept, that it wasn’t working out.

In her job she was in control, she was one of the best. I made her feel safe. Relationships on the other hand were complicated. Feelings were complicated. She knew Jules wasn’t happy, but she had never said anything. She smiled and said things were okay. They were clearly not okay. All these feelings were simmering underneath the surface and it only needed one a small spark for them to explode. Which they did the weekend before.

***

Maggie had reserved a table at a fancy restaurant she couldn’t afford and a French name she couldn’t pronounce. Maggie would live on ramen and the Halloween candy people would bring to the office the following week. She had also prepped her apartment for fun time after, but they didn’t get to that. Instead of a romantic evening, the conversation was stilted. It seemed like they had nothing to talk about, nothing in common except the unspoken agreement that wine was the only thing making this date bearable.

They didn’t talk on the ride home. The silence was eerie, and Maggie couldn’t take it anymore. Neither could Jules. When Maggie closed the door to her apartment behind her. It wasn’t clothes dropping to the floor, instead there were tears. Sad, disappointed, angry tears. And then between sobs Jules started to speak, and then her voice grew louder, and Maggie listened, and Maggie agreed.

Hard-headed, insensitive, obsessed with work, sociopathic. Jules never wanted to see her again and left before Maggie could say a single word. Not that she knew what to say. Begging for another chance when she so carelessly let go of one would be insincere. An apology would sound hollow. So, she just sat there. Leaning against the door, knees pulled to her chest, dry sobs shaking her small frame until she passed out from exhaustion.

Maggie spent Sunday curled up in a warm blanket on the couch, nursing her heartache with a bottle of scotch, eating cold leftovers she didn’t care enough to warm up, and binging a sitcom about a group of friends in the 80’s that apparently was cancelled after only one season.

***

She picked up the box and carried it into her apartment, away from the spying eyes of her neighbors that had already heard her relationship fall apart, they didn’t need to see the sad remains.

She got a beer from the fridge a slumped down on the coach staring at the wall next to the TV. She had meant to decorate it with pictures, to make it cozy and homey. Precious memories saved forever to cheer her up when she was feeling down, but she didn’t have any pictures of loved ones. She didn’t have a family who cared about her. The wall stayed empty and the picture frames she had bought gathered dust in the back of her closet still showing the faces of models smiling happily into the camera.

M’gann and Winn were the only ones she might call friends, but even with them she was guarded. They only knew those small parts of her, she’d allow them to see. But she never truly let her walls down. She was too scared that if she ever showed them all of her, what a disappointment and what a terrible person she was, they’d abandon her. Just like everyone else.

‘Alex’, a small voice in the back of her mind kept insisting. Maggie frowned. She had no idea how she really felt about Alex. It was so easy to talk to her the other day. It felt so natural and safe to open up to her. Effortlessly Alex was tearing down the walls she had built up over years and it terrified her.

Just a few weeks ago they had hated each other ardently and now? Maggie’s heart soared every time she saw her, every time she thought about her and it was dangerous. Without thinking twice, she had risked her own job, trying to help her. She kept telling herself, that it was about finding justice and making sure James Olsen wouldn’t be sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, but she knew it was just as much about Alex.

But Maggie didn’t trust herself. Not after the mess she had made of any of her past relationships, whether platonic or romantic, it didn’t matter, they all ended up getting wrecked. Alex was sweet, caring and she deserved so much better than her. She deserved a better friend than Maggie could ever be. So, she would have to stay away from her, even though Alex had been trying to cheer her up and even if it was the last thing she wanted to do.

So, this interruption to gain new leads was likely the best thing that could have happened. Not seeing Alex in court for at least a few days, would help her clear her thoughts and rebuild her walls.

 

 - - - - - -

 

The plan to keep Alex at a distance worked for two whole days.

She was leaning over files spread all over her small desk when her phone vibrated announcing a new text message. It vibrated again a few seconds alter. Maggie unlocked the screen to get a quick glimpse. It was an unknown number, but Maggie didn’t’ need to guess who it was.

 **Alex:** Hey Maggie, it’s Alex.

 **Alex:** Danvers

Maggie couldn’t help but smile to herself. As if she knew more than one Alex. She wanted to send a witty reply, but before she could think of something that wasn’t cheesy or too forward, three bubbles appeared on the bottom of the screen.

 **Alex:** Winn gave me your number. I hope that’s okay.

 **Maggie:** Hey Danvers! Yeah, that’s’ fine. What’s up?

She was trying for a balanced response, so she hoped this was the right mix of casual and formal.

 **Alex:** So, um, Winn has helped us dig up a possible lead and while my associate is investigating, I thought I’d bring you up to speed.

 **Maggie:** That’s very considerate

 **Alex:** Yeah, well, do you mind coming over to my office?

All of Maggie’s alarm signals were going off at once. Being alone in some fancy office didn’t exactly seem like the definition of staying away.

 **Maggie:** Are you inviting me to the lion’s den, Danvers?

Her phone stayed silent for the next few minutes and she went back to focus on a case file about serial car theft and smuggling, sipping on her bland office coffee and immediately regretting it when she received another message from Alex and choked.

 **Alex:** Oh, don’t worry. I don’t bite … much ;)

The resulting coughing fit lasted nearly three minutes and Brian along with two very concerned looking interns approached her, asking if they could help, but she waved them off. When she regained control of her breathing and wiped away tears.

What the hell was that? Was Alex flirting? Maggie’s mind was reeling but before she could overthink, three dots appeared, and several messages popped up.

 **Alex:** omg im sorry

 **Alex:** I didn’t mean it like that

 **Alex:** pls just ignore it

 **Alex:** im so sorry :(

Maggie started to chuckle reading Alex’s panicky messages. Her coworkers must be thinking she had completely lost it. She sent a quick reply to relieve Alex.

 **Maggie:** All good, Danvers. How about we meet on neutral grounds? I know a place.

 **Alex:** You sure?

Ripples wasn’t exactly neutral grounds, but Alex didn’t’ know that and with M’gann there, at least she had someone who would stop her from doing anything stupid.

 **Maggie:** Yeah, I’ll send you the address. Meet you there at 7?

 **Alex:** Okay, see you later

 

\- - - - - -

 

Maggie left the office earlier than usual on a Wednesday and drove by her apartment to change into something a bit more comfortable before heading to the bar. This was a work meeting, so the dark grey blazer would’ve been more professional and appropriate, but Maggie felt more comfortable, more like herself wearing her favorite leather jacket.

She had only waited a few minutes when Alex arrived on her bike, engine roaring, wearing skinny jeans, showing off her long legs, and a leather jacket. Maggie’s mouth suddenly felt very dry and she swallowed roughly, trying to compose herself while Alex took off her helmet and brushed a strand of hair behind her right ear.

“Nice bike. Got a Triumph Bonneville T100 all to myself,” she finally managed to say, hating how breathy her voice sounded.

Alex didn’t respond her comment but got right back to business. “What are we doing here?” She asked, gesturing at the bar door with a confused look on her face.

“I thought I’d buy you a drink.”

Alex arched her eyebrow. “I thought this was work.”

“Oh, it is,” Maggie replied.

Alex still seemed unconvinced but went along with it. They walked into the bar, greeted by the jukebox was playing Dolly Parton. Maggie noticed M’gann standing behind the bar, eyes flicking back and forth between her and Alex and then throwing her a sideways grin, before she handed a drink to Kevin, one of the regulars, who usually occupied the dart board.

“Two beers, Darla.”

“Coming up right away, Mags.”

They settled down in a booth close to the pool table. Alex was still looking around and then narrowed her eyes at Maggie.

“You took me to a dive bar to talk about this case?”

“Come on, Danvers, it’ not that bad,” she pleaded. “They also make a mean Peach Mojito.”

“This seems like the kind of place where people make questionable life choices,” Alex replied half accusingly and half-jokingly.

“Well, you seem to know what you’re talking about,” Maggie shot back with a grin.

“Fair,” Alex shrugged. “I’ve been to a couple bars in this city, but never quite made it to this part of town.”

“Please, don’t tell me you usually hang out at those uptight places swarming with National City’s finest litigators.” She made a disgusted face and Alex chuckled.

“Oh, hell no! I mean, Lucy tried to drag me to a couple of places when we first started working together, telling me I needed to ‘socialize’, but eventually she gave up. Guess the broody, I-don’t-need-your-mansplaining-vibe made me subpar wing woman material. Plus, I kinda prefer to drink alone, and…” she trailed off tilting her head slightly.

“What?”

Maggie just now realized she had been staring at Alex with what must’ve been a dopey grin. She told herself to play it cool, it wasn’t’ weird unless she made it weird.

“Um, nothing. That’s just, um, very relatable.”

She was saved by Darla strolling over with their beers.

“There you go. Can I get you ladies anything else?” she asked with a gravelly voice and a wink. Maggie was used to Darla’s casual flirting, but Alex was visibly flustered.

“Um, no, not right, now. Thanks, though,” the redhead stuttered blushing violently as Darla gave her a once over. Maggie had to bite her lip to not start laughing.

“Well, if you change your mind,” Darla leaned down, her face now very close to Alex’s. “I’ll be right over there.” She added, pointing at the bar.

“I think, we’re good for now, Darla.” Maggie was surprised at the hint of annoyance and jealousy in her voice.

Luckily Alex hadn’t noticed. She was trying to regain her composure taking a large swig of her beer before speaking very quickly in an attempt to change the topic.

“So, um. James, I mean, um, the case. This is off the record?”

“Yes,” Maggie assured her.

“So, um, Winn has been helping us uncover some hints that link Paul Roberts to some dodgy business back when he still lived in Opal City. He seemed to be the right-hand guy of Rory McGee, a local mobster playing godfather. One day Roberts just drops off the face of the earth and then he reappears a year later in National City. Dead.” Alex finished and took a deep breath and then another swig of her beer. 

“Really?” Maggie’s mind was racing, trying to process what she just heard. Things started to fall into place.

“We think that- “ Alex continued, but Maggie cut her off, completing the sentence for her.

“That his past might’ve caught up with him. Or someone did.”

“Yes.” Alex nodded almost enthusiastically.

“Did you contact local authorities?” Alex rolled her eyes at the question and sighed.

“Without much more to go by than a suspicion based on some not quite legally acquired leads, they probably wouldn’t be too willing to help.” 

“Fair,” Maggie admitted. “So now what?”

“Well, Winn is following every digital trace Roberts left over the last year, even though it’s not a lot. But it might give us an idea, who got to him. Meanwhile, Vasquez is knocking on some doors in Opal City, see what she can find out there.”

“That seems dangerous.” Maggie worried.

She trusted Alex’s judgment, but she did prefer doing things by the book. It kept people save and out of trouble. The again, her actions lead to this, so she could only hope things wouldn’t go sideways, for everyone’s sake.

“Vasquez is a big girl. She can handle herself. All that military training’s gotta be good for something.” Alex meant well, but her words did little to calm Maggie’s nerves. She finished her beer and decided she needed something stronger.

“So, we wait and do nothing until either Winn or Vasquez find something?” she asked.

Alex sighed and started peeling the label off her beer bottle as she spoke. “Yeah, that’s pretty much all we can do right now. I mean, I’m gonna update James, make sure he’s okay, but other than that. We have to be patient and trust everyone is doing everything they can to make sure the right person is brought to justice.”

“Ugh, I hate it.” Maggie leaned back in her seat.

“Me too.” Alex agreed.

They both sat in silence for a little while until Maggie couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Thank you, Alex.”

Alex looked up at her with a surprised look on her face. “I should be the one thanking you. Without your help, I wouldn’t have gotten here.” She said earnestly.

“I mean, thank you for catching me up on everything.”

“Well, yeah, sure. I promised Judge Grant I would. Plus, I think, Winn wanted me to leave him alone for a bit. He said he couldn’t work any faster just because I was ‘hovering’ beside him.”

“Of course,” Maggie laughed nervously. She reminded herself that this was work and Alex was meeting with her because they had to talk about work related things, no matter how casual the setting might’ve been.

“Well, you better not be luring Winn to the dark side with that fancy office of yours.” She joked lamely trying to deflect.

“Really, defense lawyers are the Empire?” Alex clutched her chest looking insulted.

“Yep, you totally are!” Maggie nodded.

“I find your faith in me disturbing, but don’t worry, Winn isn’t the geek I’m looking for. You’ll get him back after this case is done.”

“Nerd!” Maggie snorted.

“Takes one to know one,” Alex quipped back with a bright smile.

“I’m really…” Alex started but then trailed off biting her lip. “I know this probably isn't my place, but I was hoping to talk to you.”

“About?” Maggie was genuinely confused at this point.

“Well, um, I- ” Alex paused. She took a deep breath and continued.

“I just noticed you were upset the other day and I just wanted, to make sure you’re okay.“ Alex looked at her with a warm smile and those big doe eyes and Maggie’s heart just about melted. She wasn’t sure why but before she knew it she started to tell her how her girlfriend broke up with her and how it hurt, because this could’ve been something real, but she seemed to mess up every relationship in her life anyway, just like with Kate. She just felt this urge to be honest with Alex. She had never felt as vulnerable as she did right now - all her walls torn down, completely defenseless.

But as she recounted all that had happened, Alex looked increasingly angry and disappointed. She hadn’t said anything for a while and Maggie felt a lump growing in her throat.

“You must think I’m a terrible person.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “No, Maggie, I- “

“I should go.” Maggie got up to leave, but Alex had grabbed her hand.

“Maggie, don’t. So you screwed up,” she shrugged. “We all did dumb things, but I’m not here to judge you for something that happened in the past. They were wrong, you know? You deserve to be happy with someone, who, just gets you.” Alex’s voice was so gentle and comforting, while her thumb was rubbing small reassuring circles on the hand she was still holding.

Maggie gazed at the intertwined hands and then up at Alex who seemed lost in thought, smile no softly. The gesture seemed almost intimate, and they both jumped when Darla with a big smirk reached for the empty bottles.

“Can I get you lovebirds another round?”

She was grateful her tan skin hid her blush but Alex was starting to splutter, her cheeks flushed and her nw empty hand fidgeting with her jacket and suddenly very interested in the nearby pool table.

“I’d actually like something a little stronger,” she addressed Darla without actually looking at her. “Scotch. Neat.”

Alex looked up and nodded along.

“Make it two then. I mean, we’re done with work, right?” Alex gave another small nod and averted her eyes again.

Maggie was trying to think of things to say, but all topics suitable for friendly conversation or small talk seemed to elude her right now. Following Alex’s eyes over to the pool table, and even though she’d never been any good, she thought it was the perfect way spend more time with Alex but not be so close or talk.

“Fancy a game? The loser gets the next round.”

“Deal.” Alex beamed.

Playing pool with Alex was not the brilliant idea Maggie thought it was, because it meant watching Alex bend over the table and handling the pool stick with such grace, it was dazzling and unsurprisingly Maggie lost the first round without sinking a single ball. Alex took pity on her and declared this and the next two rounds practice games and got the next round. She tried to be helpful by showing Maggie just how to hold the stick and the right angle and in which to hit the cue ball, but having Alex pressed against her back and her lips so close to her ear, her fingers gliding over her hands, while the alcohol was starting to cloud her judgement and loosened her inhibitions was nothing short of torture for Maggie and she did even worse the second game, if that was at all possible.

She walked over to the bar, to clear her head and get the next round after they both had finished their Scotch. Alex asked for another claiming it improved her pool skills. Maggie wasn’t sure if it helped hers too. Unlikely. Maybe she should pace herself, before she did something stupid. She spotted M’gann with a wicked grin on her face.

“So, this is your nemesis, huh?”

“Well, they do say to keep your friends close but your enemies closer.”  Maggie joked, hoping M’gann would let it go. She didn’t.

“You know, Mags, I don’t think Sun Tsu was talking about holding hands and grinding on pool tables.”

She glared at her for a moment trying to come up with a clever reply, but she could think of any. “Can you just get us another round, please? Thank you.” Maggie hissed trying very hard not to give M’gann the satisfaction of making her blush.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

No, it was a terrible idea, but Maggie turned to look at Alex racking the pool balls and looking absolutely radiant, she apparently could no longer make any smart choices. M’gann was right, but Maggie was too stubborn to at it that she was heading for trouble.

“I-“

“I appreciate your concern but I’m an adult and I know what I’m doing.”

“Sure thing, Mags,” the bartender replied, eyebrows crinkled slightly with a worried expression, and handed her the two drinks.

 

\- - - - - -

 

Finally in their fifth game that night, Maggie seemed to get the hang of it and sank several striped balls in a row, while Alex kept missing shots. Alex insisted that she was letting her win, but the concentrated and competing look on her face told another story. 

When Maggie sank the eight ball, and after slurred swears, Alex dramatically demanded a double or nothing rematch.

“It’s getting kinda late and I don’t think I’ll survive another round, Danvers.” Alex honest to god pouted and it took all of her willpower not to give in. “Plus, I don’t wanna risk having the world’s worst hangover. Trust me, you’ll thank me tomorrow.” That seemed to convince Alex.

“Well, I had a great time tonight. Um...” Alex trailed off fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

“I had a surprisingly good time, too.” 

Maggie chuckled at Alex’s slightly offended look, taking a step forward. “Maybe we can do this again sometime. I mean, without the work part.”

“I’d really like that.” Alex whispered.

Maggie was suddenly very aware of how close they were standing. She could feel her breath on her skin and smell the combination of whiskey, leather and something that was uniquely Alex and it made her feel hazy.

 

\- - - - - -

 

Maggie was woken up by an arm tangling around her waist and pulling her closer to a warm soft body as even softer lips were kissing her shoulder and then moving up to her neck. She turned her head to see Alex bathed in sunlight a radiant smile on her face.

“Hey.” She said, her voice sounding oddly gravely.

“Hello, sunshine.” Alex leaned over, connecting their lips in a soft and passionate kiss.

“Wow, “ she gasped. “Good morning to you, too.”

She felt light as feather floating in the air and every inch of her body was burning with the warmest most comforting sensation.

“Wanna make it even better?” Before she could answer, Alex trailed soft kisses down her chest. All Maggie managed in reply was a quiet moan. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the blissful moment, until they were interrupted by the alarm clock ringing. Maggie tried to block out the unpleasant noice, but it kept getting louder and louder. The warmth and calm started slipping away until there was only the shrill ring and a stabbing sensation in her head.

She opened her eyes with a start. The room was dark and she was alone, her head pounding and her heart racing. She finally managed to turn off the alarm with a groan. As she lay in the cold dark silence, staring at the ceiling the memories of the night before returned to her.

They played pool, they had too much to drink - way too much, if the excruciating pain in her head was any indication. They got ready to leave, they stood close and there was a moment, and then. Then? Alex leaned in connecting their lips and she returned the kiss.

Maggie touched her lips at the memory. She had no idea what happened after that kiss or how she got home. All that was left was a headache, the ghost of a kiss and the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and this is how I leave you. See you again next year for the last two chapters :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's POV - angst and revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for letting you wait almost a month after that cliffhanger, but I'm back with the second to last chapter of this baby, that turned into a lot more than I had bargained for. 
> 
> Shoutout to @AlexNotDanvers for being a terrific friend, who's always there to discuss story ideas, help me track down spelling mistakes and keeping me motivated with wise words and cute otter/puppy/kitty pics.
> 
> So here's some angst before we get to the super fluffy finale.

Alex sat on her couch wallowing, staring at the wall and occasionally taking a gulp from the bottle of whiskey. She felt the liquor warm her from the inside. She had been like this since she got up that morning and called in sick. She hadn’t missed a day of work in over three years. She didn’t even take vacation until that one day last March when J’onn and Pam from HR ganged up on her and took away her key card. She ended up going for a long run, re-arranged some of the furniture in her apartment, did her taxes and with the help of Vasquez hacked into her work computer to answer emails and do some case research for upcoming trials. If there was one thing Alex Danvers did not do, it was waste time.

But today she stayed holed up at home, because she couldn’t bear anyone sensing the embarrassment, the utter humiliation she felt. She couldn’t even look at herself in the mirror without wanting to smash her fists against it. So instead of going to work putting on a brave face and pretending everything was alright, like she usually would, she stayed on the couch, blinds closed, lights turned off, making her invisible to the world, wishing she could just disappear.

The screen of her phone kept lighting up with increasingly worried messages from Kara and Lucy. They had also tried to call several times, when Alex didn’t’ reply to them. But her phone had stopped buzzing and the screen had been dark for about an hour now - maybe two. She had lost all sense of time. After the pounding in her head faded the humiliation only increased and the only way to drown it out was more whiskey.

It was Kara who was knocking on her door that evening. Two gentle raps and a soft “Alex?”

She brought the bottle to her mouth to take another sip. “Alex, I know you’re in there. Let me in, please.”

“Go away, Kara.”

Silence. Then there was the sound of steps slowly fading into silence again. After a few minutes the steps grew louder again. The sound of fumbling for key and a door opening with a quiet screech and the click of a light switch followed. Then the room was flooded with the soft light from the small lamp on her sideboard table.

Kara carefully move towards her, standing still for a while before she started to speak.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing is going on. You shouldn’t have come over here.”

“J’onn called. You didn’t show up for work and that’s not like you, so I got worried.”

“You’re right. I should, uh…I should go in.” she got up trembling and then slumped back down on the couch.

“Wait, wait. Something is clearly wrong.”

“Everything is fine.”

“Alex, please talk to me. What happened?”

She could no longer hold back the tears welling up. Usually she was the one to comfort Kara. She was the protective older sister, offering a shoulder to cry on, but now she was grateful for role reversal.

“She doesn’t like me, like that.” she sobbed.

“Wait. Who?” Kara asked with a soft voice, looking genuinely confused.

“Maggie.”

It was a mere whisper, but speaking the name sent a sharp pain through her heart. How had she fallen so deeply and so hopelessly for someone who thought that spending time with her, kissing her was a mistake and then just ran off?

“I-“ Kara started, looking at her with a confused frown. “I didn’t know you were close.”

“We’re not,” she snapped.

“I’m sorry, Alex. Want talk about what happened?” Alex shook her head, tears pushing to stream down her face.

“I’m so…humiliated,“ the lump in her throat and the sobs that made her catch her breath, so she wouldn’t break stopped her from saying another word, but Kara understood. She didn’t push for more. Her little sister seemed so much taller and stronger, wrapping her arms protectively around her. Gently swaying and rubbing circles on her back.

They sat like this until her breathing had calmed and the tears had stopped falling. Kara made some herbal tea for her to drink and insisted she at least ate some crackers. Kara had turned on the TV and some Netflix nature documentary was playing in the background. Alex was close to just passing out from exhaustion, curled up in Kara’s side, her sister softly stroking her hair.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Kara whispered.

“For what?” she furrowed her eyebrows, confused as to where Kara was going with this.

“For not creating an environment where you felt you could talk to me about your feelings. I was so worried about James, the trial, work and all that these past weeks. There hasn't been room for you, and that’s my fault. And I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I love you, Kar.” She hugged her impossible tight.

They stayed like this, the ‘Still watching?’-message flashing on the screen as exhaustion took over and Alex drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

 

\- - - - - -

 

After two days of wallowing and a weekend to clear her head, she stepped into the office Monday morning with new vigor. She was determined to put this whole Maggie thing behind her and just focus on what was important - the case.

Eager to find out what new information Winn and Vasquez had dug up in the past days, she walked directly into the small conference room that served as an improvised office space for the hacker. He had already started to decorate the room with geeky posters with ‘give me a <br/>’ or ‘there’s no place like 127.0.0.1’ and stacked boxes of little vinyl figurines with oversized heads and bobbly eyes. One of them even looked like James in his Guardian outfit. Alex had to try very hard to control her impulse of rolling her eyes at him.

“Morning, Schott. Got anything new for me?” she asked, and Winn jumped and looked at her wide-eyed. The guy was acting a little skittish around her. According to Lucy she had an aura that intimidated not just the interns but also a few of her older and higher-ranking colleagues. She couldn’t help but feel proud of it.

“Erm, Ms. Danvers, hi, um, I wasn’t expecting you to be back yet. Mr. J’onzz asked not to bother you until we had something certain, so I…” he trailed off rummaging through the documents scattered on the conference table uncovering a tablet. He moved his finger across the screen swiping up a few times and then called out “Got it!”

“What am I looking at” Alex moved closer, taking a seat at the nearest chair.

“So, I was gonna wait for Vasquez to confirm this. She’s still talking to a source in Opal City, but we have a call schedule in about an hour, so…” he trailed of shrugging.

She could take a hint. “Okay, I’ll catch up on some work until then.” She got up and walked out of the conference room. Before she got to the door, she turned around, trying that positive affirmation thing Kara had urged her to try more.

“Um, nice work, Schott.” He beamed at that, looking just as much like a human puppy as her sister. They would probably become best friends at first sight. Maggie had mentioned, he didn’t have many friends in the city, so she took a mental note to invite him to the next game night.

 

\- - - - - -

 

She managed to read a few emails and write half a reply, until Lucy knocked on the door and poked her head in before she could even look up.

“You exiled my girlfriend to a different time zone and then you go and abandon me too? Not cool, Alex. Not cool.” Lucy had a tendency to be overly dramatic, but there was some genuine concern in her voice and Alex did feel guilty for keeping her best friend in the dark.

“I’m sorry, Luce. I-” she trailed off then smirked. “That’s the first time you called Vasquez your girlfriend.” Lucy immediately started blushing furiously.

“Shut up. Not the point.” she huffed out.

“Oh but it totally is. You're whipped.” Alex resisted humiliating Lucy any further by making a whipping sound and instead giggled at Lucy’S expression shifting between annoyance and joy.

“I’m happy for you, Luce.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You deserve someone who makes you happy.”

“So do you, Alex”

She took a shuttering breath and Lucy got that look in here eyes that meant whatever secret someone was keeping from her wouldn’t be a secret for much longer. So Alex relented and told her what happened in the bar. How her and Maggie had had a great time playing pool. How they had a couple of drinks and got closer. How in a surge of confidence and desire she leaned in to and kissed Maggie. How at first Maggie had returned the kiss, just to pull away a moment later. How Maggie rejected her, saying she made a mistake and how Maggie just ran off leaving her behind truly and utterly humiliated.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Idiot!” She exclaimed and it seemed like she was going to say more but she stopped herself and glanced at her watch.

“Sorry, gotta go!” And without any further explanation she stormed out of Alex’s office, leaving her thoroughly confused.

 

\- - - - - -

 

Shortly after lunch break Winn, J’onn and Alex were gathered around the table in the conference room, staring at screen son the wall while Winn started the video call. Lucy snuck in stealth-mode and crossed the room to sit next to Alex.

Vasquez appeared on the screen, joined by a man with curly brown hair and a leather jacket and a short Latina woman, with a stiff posture, wearing a light grey power suit and a pink blouse, clutching a binder with color-coded pages.

“Hello Susan, so what can you tell us?” J’onn asked, ignoring how Vasquez flinched at the use of her first name and blushed slightly when Lucy winked at her.

“Sir, um, these are Detective Peralta of the Opal City Police Department and Special Agent Santiago of the FBI.” She gestured to the two people next to her. Lucy grinned, scribbled something on a sticky note and held it up for Alex to see. ‘20$ that Peraltiago are a thing.’ Alex rolled her eyes but took the bet. That was easy money. They obviously had no chemistry whatsoever and besides, a local cop and fed, that never works out.

She focused back on the screen when Vasquez started speaking. “Detective Peralta, went undercover infiltrating Rory McGee’s gang to solve a money laundering case three years ago. One of his sources from back then agreed to meet with us this morning. The CI confirmed the murders. He believes it was someone from the outside.”

“Someone, who wanted revenge.” Peralta added dramatically.

“Like from another gang, or someone who was betrayed or what?” Alex asked.

“Not quite.” Winn supplied, typing furiously without even looking up from his tablet.

“Judging from the way, these people died, someone made sure it never looked like the execution it was. There were accidents” He made air quotes to emphasize that the ‘accidents’ were likely well disguised attacks, “and of course, MgGee didn’t want the OCPD to get involved, so he kept it quiet and just disposed of his friends’ dead bodies in ways, that…” he trailed off looking squeamish.

“Julie Karnowsky!” Winn yelled his hands shooting up in a victory pose.

All heads turned his way and the three pairs of eyes on the screen fixed him looking irritated.

“Ugh, she, um.” he stuttered.

“Yes, Mr. Schott.” J’onn urged him to go on in a soft fatherly voice, placing a hand on his shoulder. Winn tensed upper a second and then relaxed.

“Um, there was a robbery at Opal City First National Bank two years ago. Really messy hostage situation, six people died in the crossfire, including Julie Karnowsky.”

“I remember that,” Peralta jumped in. “The 57th precinct arrested seven of McGee’s men, but they all got off on technicalities. Contaminated crime scene, security footage and weapons stolen from the evidence locker - a dark day for the OCPD.” He twisted his face in disgust.

“So, this woman…”

“Julie Karnowsky.”

“She was one of the victims, then?”

“Yes.”

“And how…?”

“How is that relevant?”

“Yes.”

“Julie Karnowsky’s husband Phillip, is a Navy Seal. Well, he was at least until two years ago.” Winn pulled up the man’s military record on his tablet along with pictures of the couple smiling happily at the camera.

“He was on his third tour in Iraq when his wife got killed. He resigned right after he got the news. No one has heard of him or seen him since. Around the same time, he left the army, the people involved in the robbery, including several of McGee’s men and OCPD officers turned up dead.” He finished with a grim face.

The Detective jumped back in. “So according to Bob, McGee has taken some precautions and reinforced his security measures to protect himself, but the guys working for him were pretty much left fending for themselves. So, some of them ran and hid as far away as they could.”

“Like our dead thief, Paul Roberts.” Alex supplied.

“Yes, but moving across the country wasn’t enough.” Winn held up his tablet to reveal what looked like the footage of a traffic camera. “This traffic camera on Main Street and 3rd picked up on something interesting on September 14th at 2:36pm.” He zoomed in to reveal a blurry face. “Facial recognition gives us 98.9 percent match for Phillip Karnowsky.”

“So that’s proof. He was in National City the night of Robert’s murder and he definitely had a motive.” Alex concluded, but then backtracked. “But wait, unless he is arrested, and we get a confession, James Olsen will still be trialed for murder.”

“That’s where we come in.” It was the first time during the whole conversation that Agent Santiago had said anything. “The FBI will take over pulling resources from both the OCPD and the NCPD to track down and stop this guy.”

“Time to catch a bad guy.” Peralta growled in a deep voice, putting on a pair of sunglasses and pointed a finger gun at a coffee mug. This guy has definitely watched way too many movies.

“We got this,” Santiago said turning to Peralta and giving him a high five. What the hell? Alex turned to Lucy who gave her a devious smirk and made a ‘pay up’ gesture with her hand.

“Well, I guess I’m done here. I’ll head back to National City tonight.” Vasquez said quickly with a small nod and a smile directed at Lucy, before she ended the call and the screen turned black again.

 

\- - - - - -

 

Alex was dreading the upcoming trial day and who she would have to face at court. It was a mere formality, why did she even have to be there? Judge Grant was going to declare mistrial based on the new evidence and the re-opened investigation now spear-headed by the FBI. Hopefully it would all be over soon.

Right after she walked into the courthouse, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. She tried to ignore it and instead focused on studying the pattern of the marble floor, trying to determine whether the brown whale-shaped patch was a coffee or tea stain.

“Danvers.”

Alex forced herself not to look up, but there wasn’t much she could do against the quickly approaching footsteps. Running away and hiding in the bathroom like a school girl would be silly and disgraceful. She could do this. She had to eventually. Maggie stopped right in front of her and Alex immediately regretted looking up into her beautiful face, with the deep brown eyes, those dimples and those incredibly soft lips. She felt her heart ache all over again.

“Hey, it’s been a hot minute. How are you?”

She nearly choked at the nonchalance. “Yeah, good, good. Erm yeah,” she mumbled unconvincingly.

“Can I talk to you for a minute before we go in?” Maggie asked, giving her that signature head tilt.

Alex swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, schooling her face to stay neutral. “Yep,” she forced out.

They walked over to a small waiting area with two benches and an out of order vending machine, that hasn’t been fixed for 4 months and counting. Justice is apparently blind and underfunded.

“So, you haven’t returned any of my calls, I’ve been worried about you.” Worried? Seriously? This woman had some nerve. Alex clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She felt a rush of anger, making her feel like she was on fire threatening to set anything or anyone aflame who dared to get too close. It took all she had and more to suppress a cynical remark and put on her best poker face. She felt reminded of their confrontations at court several months ago. Back then it was just irritating, now it was painful.

“Oh, I’ve been working,” she lied, but Maggie didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“Right, there must be a lot of vigilantes in desperate need of legal advice on the streets of National City.” Alex frowned at the poor attempt of lightening the mood with a joke. “Ah well, there always are.”

They stood in stood there in an awkward silence, but Alex couldn’t take it anymore. “What do you want, Sawyer? If this is about the case, I believe Winn has already filled you in.” It came out more vicious and hurt than she intended, and she really hoped Maggie wouldn’t notice, but from the way her expression turned somber, she definitely had.

“Yeah, he did, but that’s not…” she took a deep breath and then continued. “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay, with us. The last time we saw each other things got a little, um, you know…” she trailed off, looking at Alex imploringly like she wanted her to fill in the gap. Alex had no time for games like this.

“Complicated?” Maggie finally blurted our looking up at her questioningly. Well, if that wasn’t the understatement of the century.

“Well, it seemed pretty straightforward to me,” she replied coolly. Maggie seemed confused.

“Um, okay. Good. So, still friends?”

What the fuck? She couldn’t believe that Maggie was seriously trying to just sweep everything that happened between them the previous week under the rug and pretend it was fine. No. Things were definitely not good, and they definitely weren’t friends. Not even close.

“No, Maggie, we’re not friends,” she snapped.

“Oh okay, I’m lost. What happened?” Maggie looked at her with wide eyes and slacked jaw, but Alex barely noticed, feelings of fury, humiliation and the memories of their kiss fighting for dominance in her mind. She hated to make a scene, but she could no longer keep this inside.

“Well, let’s see. We worked together to make sure an innocent man wasn’t locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. We hung out. We got close. We kissed and all of a sudden you pushed me away, calling it all a mistake and then ran off.” Alex spat out, her voice filled with venom and pain. At least Maggie had the decency to look guilty.

“Alex, that’s not what,” Maggie started, but Alex cut her off, not wanting to hear whatever apology Maggie had to offer. She was too angry and just needed to get away.

“Just, you know what, save it. okay, let’s…that’s not what’s import right now. What’s important right now is that we get this farce of a trial over with.” And with that she stomped off towards the courtroom.

She was lucky the trial proceedings went as expected. The crowd in the gallery cheered when Judge Grant declared that in light of new evidence, the re-opened investigation and a new suspect, the trial could no longer go forward and had to be cancelled, declaring it a mistrial and dropping the murder charges against Guardian.

James was so relieved, he completely ignored the hand Alex extended to congratulate him and gave her a big bear hug instead. It felt a bit awkward at first, but Alex realized she probably needed that just as much as he did. They really did it. He was free. And it wasn’t just thanks to her. She quickly glazed over to the table of the prosecution, but Maggie just sat there, hands folded and her head down.

 

 - - - - - -

 

They had all come together at Kara’s apartment to celebrate James being a free man again. There would still be more trials coming up, dealing with whatever property damage and injuries he caused as Guardian, but for now he was hailed as a hero once more.

Lucy and Vasquez lounged on the couch devouring some of the pizza slices, while Kara was distracted. James leaned against the kitchen counter, dreamily looking at Kara, who was chatting with Winn about some fantasy show they both deemed the best thing ever to be on TV.

Alex took a beer from the fridge and stood next to James.

“Did they really just meet five minutes ago and became best friends?” James chuckled.

“Well, you know Kara. People can’t resist her bubbly charm, even if they tried. Unless their name is Snapper Carr” Alex joked, taking a sip from the bottle.

“I really like her, Alex.” He whispered with a dopey smile.

Alex arched an eyebrow. She had held off on the shovel talk so far, but now seemed a good time to let him know, that if he ever did anything to upset her little sister, he’d be in a world of hurt. Before she could voice these thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

“I got it.” She announced, rushing to the apartment door and swinging it open. She froze, and the smile died on her face.

‘Hey,” she looked over her shoulder and quickly slipped out, quietly closing the door behind her.

“Uh, what are you, um, what are you doing here?” she asked crossing her arms to brace herself for whatever Maggie had to say. She was wearing the same leather jacket as the night they played pool. The same night they kissed. The same night she rejected her so harshly.

“I really need to talk to you. And if you just give me two minutes of your time, I’ll promise I’ll be out of your hair.” Alex took a deep breath and contemplated for a moment, but then gave in to Maggie’s pleading soft smile.

“Two minutes” she replied.

“I heard everything you said. I get it. And if you never wanna talk to me again, I’ll respect that. I’ll disappear.”

“But I don’t meet many people that I care about. And I care about you - a lot.”

“You’ve become really important to me, and um, I hope that one day you and I could be friends.” She paused and looked into Alex’s eyes again and with a confidence and certainty that wasn’t there before she continued. “Because I don’t wanna imagine my life without you in it.”

Maggie was searching her face for the slightest reaction, but Alex remained stoic, despite the hopeful little flame in her heart. She read a situation wrong before and ended up being crushed, she didn’t dare let her walls down again.

Her heart was beating through her chest when she finally replied, already opening the apartment door to go back inside. “Pool, tomorrow night.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Maggie beamed at her.

She walked back in heading towards the fridge to get something a little stronger to calm her nerves. Friends. Maggie wanted to be friends. She could do that. Right? She was surprised by Kara suddenly appearing next to her. “How was that?”

“Ugh, spy much?” Kara chuckled, adjusting her glasses.

Seriously, did her little sister have some kind of x-ray vision or enhanced hearing and just pretended to be an ordinary human being? Because this level of perceptiveness was starting to get really creepy. When they were teenagers she called Kara an alien, because she had just invaded her life and was generally acting weird, but maybe there was a lot more truth to it than she knew.

“Just a lucky guess.” Kara shrugged. “Plus, my journalistic instincts picked up on your sudden change in body language, the flushed cheeks and that dopey grin on your face.”

Alex brought her fingers up to touch her cheek, feeling the warmth. She was a little embarrassed at how easy it was for Kara to see right through her. Was she really that obvious?

“It was good. We’re just, we’re gonna be friends,” she answered, flinching slightly at the word ‘friends’. She’d have to get used to it. Being friends with Maggie was still better than not being anything to Maggie. And if the borderline romantic speech the small brunette had given just a few minutes ago, she felt the same way.

“Okay,” Kara smiled at her knowingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops...looks like another favorite ship of mine invaded this AU, but I hope you don't mind.
> 
> Thank you for sticking with this story and see you soon for the final chapter :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie's POV - “Friends”, family and a Sanvers fluffs-giving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience and for sticking around. We made it. This is the final chapter to this story and it got fluffy...also a little angsty, but don't worry. Sanvers is endgame!
> 
> Once more shoutout to my friends who encouraged me to write this, even though I was terrified. You're the best.

“Pool tomorrow.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

She was afraid that their relationship would be complicated after all that had happened and their first interaction was a bit awkward and stiff, with both of them trying to avoid certain topics or any physical contact. But the awkwardness soon subsided and they settled into an easy rhythm and it felt like they had known each other for years.

Little by little, ‘Pool tomorrow’ turned into playing pool or hanging out at the bar after work at least three times a week. It turned into having lunch together whenever they were both at court. It turned into bringing each other coffee. Alex had scoffed at her tiny windowless office and she gawked at the extravagance of the DEO lobby. There were fruit bowls with fresh fruit, iced water with sliced lemons in it and a guy who was only hired to give people massages. No wonder Winn wouldn’t shut up about how great it was and hoped that helping with the Guardian case would lead to a more permanent position. That traitor. And then there was the ridiculously beautiful view from Alex’s office, overlooking downtown Nation City and the nearby park.

It turned into hanging out at Alex’s apartment watching scary movies together and gorging themselves on pizza and Chinese takeout. It turned into going on runs together and being invited to game night with Alex’s sister and her friends. By the second time they were no longer allowed to play on the same team, because they were simply unstoppable.

Like they knew each other’s moves and anticipated what the other would say next and it was just easy. Well, easy apart from the longing she felt to just grab Alex, pull her close and kiss her, but they were friends and that was enough. It had to be.

Alex seemed changed, like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. She took on other pro bono cases and stopped defending dubious clients just because of their money and reputation. She smiled more, and while some of the court clerks and other lawyers seemed irritated by it, Alex’s smile was the most beautiful thing Maggie had ever seen and she vowed to make her smile every day.

She received the biggest smile from Alex – and Kara and James, but she was mostly focused on Alex – when she announced that she pulled some strings and called in some favors and that the District Attorney himself would drop all the charges against Guardian. The media loved their reinstated local hero enough to convince even hardass like Dean. The only condition was that he had to agree to leave his vigilante days behind and instead help to promote the work of a new mentoring and big brother program, sponsored by none other than Lena Luthor, in support of kids and teenagers from poorer parts of town. James gladly agreed and Kara excitedly remarked how this would make a great story and that she was going to pitch it to her boss at the Tribune.

Maggie was happier than she had been in a long time. She was content, but there was still a nagging feeling every time she said goodbye to Alex with a hug and watched her walk away.

 

\- - - - - -

  

They strolled through the park by the courthouse, cups with ice cream in hand on a sunny and according to Alex an unusually warm November day even by for Californian-standards. It was Thanksgiving week and Alex was freaking out a little over her mother visiting town.

“She can’t be that bad.”

“You have no idea. It’s like Kara can do no wrong, but whatever I do is dissected under a microscope, just to be judged as another addition to my long list of failures.”

“Come on, Alex, she’s your mom and she loves you and wants you to be happy. Parents don’t always understand-.” She stopped in her tracks. With a jolt she was reminded of the things her parents didn’t understand about her. The disappointment, disgust and hate on their faces when they kicked her out, because of who she was and who she loved. She balled her hands into fists and took a deep breath to calm herself and stop her eyes from welling up.

“Hey?” Alex asked softly, putting an arm around her and pulling her into a side hug.

“I’m sorry for whining. You’ve been through so much with your parents and I didn’t mean to remind you of that. All things, considered, I’m really lucky to have her and Kara to lean on.”

“All good, Danvers.” Maggie whispered, easing into the hug.

“Hey, I got an idea, why don’t you spend Thanksgiving with us?”

“What? I’m-“ she stuttered.

“Well, it’s more like ‘Friends-giving’, really.” Alex explained. “My mom and Kara will be there, of course. But Lucy, Vasquez, James, J’onn and Winn are also joining.”

“I don’t know, Alex, I’m really not a big fan of celebrating how the pilgrims slaughtered the indigenous people of this land.”

“Please, for me? I need you by my side.” Alex grabbed her hands and looked at her with those big doe eyes and all her resolve to spend the dreaded holidays like she did every year, alone with some takeout and a nice bottle of scotch, faltered.

“I, okay,” she conceded.

“Yes!” Alex danced around happily, and Maggie couldn’t believe how she just turned into useless goo whenever the redhead looked at her. Alex might as well ask her to cross the desert on foot. She knew she wouldn’t get far, but hell, she’d try.

Being friends with Alex, and spending a holiday with Alex and her friends and family - no problem at all. She could do this.

  

\- - - - - -

 

She absolutely could not do this. Maggie was overwhelmed and nervous and couldn’t stop thinking and spiraling about how this felt way too much like meeting the parents of a girlfriend, which never went well in the past. But Alex was not her girlfriend, so why was she so stressed?

She had met Alex’s friends before. Even briefly talked to J’onn, who was the first father figure who didn’t outright glare at her. Meeting Alex’s mother? Somehow that seemed like the scariest thing she had ever done, apart from almost telling Alex how she felt a few weeks ago.

Maggie spent two days obsessing over the right outfit. And finally decided on a soft grey sweater, blue jeans and some brown ankle boots. She had asked Alex if there was anything she should bring, but despite her assurances that there would be enough to feed an entire army, she figured a little dolce wouldn’t hurt. So on Thanksgiving morning she added the final touches to her homemade tiramisu. Her specialty and a guarantee to win over the hearts of any woman.

She got to Kara’s apartment building twenty minutes early and instead of just going up, she circled the block few times, trying to calm her nerves, repeating a mantra of ‘it’s gonna be okay’ over and over until the worlds bled together and lost all meaning. She could only hope no one saw her like this.

When she finally made it up to the apartment, exactly two minutes before the agreed upon time, there was already animated chatter coming from inside. After a hesitant knock the door swung open and a beaming Kara Danvers gave a side hug and motioned for her to come in.

“What’s in the bag?” Kara asked, pulling down her glasses if that would help her see better.

“Oh, just some homemade tiramisu. I figured there could never be enough dessert.” Kara smiled appreciatively and ushered her over to the kitchen counter which was already filled with plates, bowls and bottles of the various things the others had brought. She spotted a bottle of tequila, she could really use that one now.

“Just put it next to the chocolate pecan pie.” Alex’s voice appeared behind her and she spun around almost dropping the tiramisu, but Alex displayed some catlike reflexes and caught it midair and placed it safely on the counter.

“Wow,” Maggie gasped in astonishment. Looking back she couldn’t tell if it was the vision of Alex in a cozy maroon sweater and tight back pants or her impressive physical abilities that took her breath away.

“Well, um, I had to save the dessert, um,” Alex trailed off, scratching the back of her neck, looking a little flustered. “I’m so glad you made it.”

“Of course.” Maggie smiled.

“Well, thank you, it means a lot to me.” And with that Alex wrapped her in and impossibly tight hug. Her heart was beating out of her chest at first but soon slowed down as she relaxed and melted into the embrace. She felt warm and floaty and she didn’t know how long they stood there swaying slightly but suddenly an unfamiliar voice drew her back to reality.

“So you must be Maggie.”

Alex broke the hold and stepped to the side. Maggie immediately missed the warmth and comfort of Alex’s arms. Still a bit dizzy she looked up at a blond women with kind eyes and a knowing smile.

“Yes, um, mom, this is my Maggie, um, my friend, Maggie.” Alex stuttered and it was the most adorable thing in the world, but the word ‘ friend’ stung.

“It’s so great to finally meet you, Maggie. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.” Maggie gave Alex a confused look, but the redhead seemed distracted by something on the other side of the room.

“It’s my pleasure, Doctor Danvers.” Maggie replied, smiling politely resisting the ridiculous impulse to curtsy.

“Oh please, no need for formalities. This is family and you can call me Eliza.” Maggie hoped that the other woman didn’t notice her flinch at the name. She tried to change the topic making small talk about jobs, food and the weather. Eventually she joined Winn, who looked almost as terrified as she felt, on the couch, while the Danvers women were preparing the food and setting the table.

When everyone gathered around the table there was a bit of shuffling around. Kara sat down at the head of the table, James on her right and her mother on her left. Winn took the seat next to James and almost jumped up again when Alex’s boss J’onn sat down beside him. He gave him a warm smile and a pat on the back and that seemed to calm him. Vasquez and Lucy squeezed in on Winn’s other side and if this wouldn’t have been a family gathering, they surely would’ve only needed one chair. Alex took the seat next to Lucy which left only one place for Maggie to sit. Right between Alex and her mother. Great. Absolutely not awkward. Maggie sighed and took a sip from her wine.

Before everyone tucked in, they went around the table in a Danvers Thanksgiving tradition naming all the things they were thankful for this year. Kara got up first, toasting to family, new friends and love. The smile she gave James at the last word was so bright it was quite possibly visible from space. He beamed back at her with a shy smile and took her hand. James himself got up, still holding Kara’s hand, to say how thankful he was to both Danvers sisters for believing in him. Winn held up his wine and toasted to being invited and feeling liked he finally belonged. Maggie couldn’t help but join in along with J’onn. Vasquez and Lucy seemed too distracted by each other to take part in any tradition, which gained them a cough along with rolled eyes from Kara and giggles from Winn. Maggie felt Alex shift nervously beside her and if she was preparing to get up and make a toast of her own. She tensed up for a bit, but then remained seated taking a big gulp from her wine instead.

“Sweetie, did you wanna say something?” Eliza asked and Maggie wasn’t sure if she had addressed Alex or her. She was looking between them as they both started to splutter. She could feel everyone’s eyes on them. Even Vasquez and Lucy had interrupted whatever it was they were doing with their feet under the table.

“Um, no, I’m just here for the food.” Alex joked with a forced grin, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh yeah, let’s eat. I’m starving.” Kara chimed in.

They ate, laughed and made small talk. Occasionally Alex’s hand was brushing against hers when she was reaching for the cranberry sauce or the potatoes and every time Maggie had to concentrate not to drop her fork and school her face to keep away a dopey love struck smile whenever she looked to her right. She hoped her crush wasn’t too obvious, but judging from Lucy’s smirk she was doing a terrible job of hiding it. At least Alex didn’t seem to notice.

After they finished most of the food, or rather after Kara finished half a turkey basically on her own – which no one seemed surprised by – they settled on the couch to watch Kara’s favorite movie The Wizard of Oz. Eliza explained that it made Kara feel less alone when she first came to live with them in a strange new place. Alex had described Midvale as a sleepy coastal city with great beaches but to twelve-year old Kara it must’ve felt like a different planet. Maggie tried to think back of her life in Blue Springs and how she would’ve felt being dropped into a far away place after losing her family. She could relate to it.

While her thoughts wandered off only half paying attention to what was happening on the screen or around her, she felt Alex sit down next to her and subconsciously leaned into her side. Alex draped an arm around her and pulled her closer. They had watched movies together, but they had never cuddled, especially not when there were other people around, but this was nice. Friends cuddled, no big deal. Winn made a squeaky sound and whispered to Kara and then both of them just beamed.

  

\- - - - - -

  

“Maggie, sweetie, would you help me get the dessert ready?” Eliza asked softly. Maggie looked up and let her eyes adjust to the brightness and gaze across the room. Alex had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Kara had passed out from the food coma, her head in James lap who was gently stroking her hair. Winn was balled up on the couch, eyes shut tight mumbling binary code. J’onn watched the scene with a fond smile while fighting to stay awake himself. Lucy and Vasquez were nowhere to be found.

“Um, okay,” she replied, moving to get up slowly and make sure not to wake Alex, holding her and lowering her head to a pillow. Then she quietly shuffled over to the kitchen counter where Eliza had started cutting the pies into small pieces and placing them on plates.

Eliza handed her a knife to cut the tiramisu and instructed her to place the pieces on the plates next to the chocolate pecan pie. They worked together silently until Eliza stopped what she was doing and turned to Maggie.

“You know,” she started and Maggie turned to face her, scared of what was coming, but instead of the threats and nasty comments she had experienced at family gatherings in the past, she was met with eyes full of warmth.

Eliza cleared her throat. “I didn’t say anything before, but I’m so thankful you’re here today and that Alex has you in her life. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her So happy and so much” she cut herself off, searching for the right word, “so much like herself.”

Maggie had to take a moment to let the words sink in. She put the knife down and wrapped her arms around her waist to keep herself from shaking. Tears of joy welling up. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

“Yeah, I’m happy to have her as a friend.” She replied softly, looking over at Alex now sprawled across the armchair, they had previously occupied together.

“Right.” Eliza smiled gently. Maggie tried, but failed to hide the blush creeping up her neck.

“I’m-“ she stuttered, but Eliza put her hand on her trembling one to stop her.

“It’s not my place to tell you what to do, dear. I know from the way you look at Alex, that you like her, a lot more than just as a friend. And maybe you owe it to yourself and her to tell her that.”

“How did you,” Maggie whispered.

“A mother knows.” In that moment Eliza Danvers seemed like the wisest woman on the planet. Then an almost mischievous smile played on her lips. “Plus, Lucy Lane sent around an email inviting people to bet on when the two of you would finally announce that you were dating.”

“Oh” Maggie managed before both of them started laughing. 

“Welcome to the family.” Eliza announced, pulling her into a tight hug.

  

 - - - - - -

  

Eliza’s words still rang in her ears and she tried to hold on to the determination and bravery that threatened to leave her the closer she got to Alex’s apartment. She slowed down her steps but eventually she reached the flight and she held on to the handrail. Her palms were sweaty. Maybe this was a bad idea. They were in a good place right now and if there was more than friendship between them, this would be easier, less scary, wouldn’t it?

Maggie clutched the six-pack of beer tighter. She brought them as a fallback, in case her nerves failed her. She could pretend she was just coming by as a friend to talk about things friends talk about and hang out, maybe watch a movie.

She must’ve stood in front of Alex’s apartment door unmoving, for at least ten minutes. This was stupid and cheesy and Alex was probably asleep already anyway. She turned around, getting ready to retreat, berating herself for being a coward. Again. The memory of their kiss in the bar flashed before her and as if some strange power took hold of her, she stopped in her tracks, turned back to the door and gave it a tentative knock.

She froze when she heard footsteps shuffling closer from the other side. She looked up at the peephole, tilting her head and trying her best to smile and hide the panic. With a small squeak the door swung open. Alex gave her a bright smile holding on to the door, hair falling into her face in soft waves looking tired but absolutely radiant.

“Hey! Thirsty?” She held up the beer for Alex to see.

“Yes. Come in. Please, ignore the pajamas.” Alex seemed a little self-conscious, looking down at the cozy sleepwear and fluffy socks.

“No, they’re cute.” Maggie assured her as she walked in, putting the beer on the kitchen counter. 

“It’s late.” Alex noted, opening two bottles and handing one to Maggie, who was fidgeting with her hands, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You seemed a little overwhelmed today. I’m sorry, my family can be a lot.”

Maggie looked up, holding on to the bottle, then thought better of it and placed it on the side table and started pacing the room. 

“No, um, it was fine, I just-” she cut herself off and took a deep breathe. It was now or never. “I just, I really needed to see you and talk to you.”

“Is everything okay?” Alex asked concerned. 

“I, I was so stupid.” She blurted out, baffling Alex. She fixed her eyes at the floor and tried to ground herself to continue.

“All we did was fight, and I just thought you were this arrogant and immoral vulture defending all these terrible people and that was that, but then you took that case and I saw this completely different side of you, this beautiful, smart, and caring woman who was willing to put her career on the line for her sister’s happiness and how could I not like you?” She paused, her heart was beating out of her chest and she didn’t have the courage to look up at Alex.

“It scared me,” she admitted. “The way you proved all my expectations wrong, how you walked into my life, and how all I could think about was you. I didn’t dare to assume you felt the same but then you kissed me, and I thought it was just the alcohol and that you didn’t mean it. I mean, how could someone like you want me.” She took a step forward, finally looking up at Alex. Her expression was unreadable, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. Maggie forced herself to continue her voice reduced to a whisper.

“I tried to be there for you as a friend, I really did, but you were right all these weeks ago. It doesn’t work, because I want to be so much more to you. I thought that eventually those feelings would fade, but they only grew stronger. And maybe you feel that way too or maybe not. I would wait an eternity for you.” She took a leap of faith, closing the gap between her and Alex.

“But life is too short, and we should be who we are, and we should kiss the girls that we wanna kiss, and I really just, I want to kiss you,” she whispered grabbing Alex’s face.

“I just-“ Maggie connected their lips and at first Alex was caught off guard her eyebrows shot up in surprise, but then she let herself relax and leaned into the kiss.

When Maggie pulled away for air, slowly opening her eyes again, Alex beamed at her with a dopey grin clutching her hands before her chest.

“So, you’re saying you like me? That’s, that’s what I got.” Alex gestured between them and Maggie couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across her face.

“Of course. You’re not gonna go crazy on me, are you?”

“Probably, yeah.” Alex smiled bringing her hands up to weave her fingers through Maggie’s hair and then pulled her into another soft kiss, their lips moving softly against each other, tongues teasing, and Maggie knew she never wanted to stop kissing Alex.

  

\- - - - - -

  

Eight months later.

It was the hottest day of the year and they spent it inside unpacking boxes. Kara, James and Winn could be bribed into helping but at the pace they were going and with them just giggling, they wouldn’t finish for another couple of hours.

Maggie’s mind drifted off to the last weekend, where they had spent the day hiking up one of the trails up to the Mount Pride observatory to watch the sunset and enjoying a bottle of chilled white wine, grapes and soft kisses. She was pulled out of her daydream, by Alex nudging her side.

“Mags?”

“Yeah?”

“Why is your name first?” Alex frowned, causing a cute crinkle on her forehead.

“You agreed to it, babe.” Maggie shrugged.

“When?”

“Last night. You said, I could have everything I wanted, if I just let you-”

“That’s not what I meant!” Alex cut her off, blushing furiously as she looked over her shoulder to make sure none of the others had heard.

“Well, you should’ve made that clear then.” Maggie winked. Alex pouted, which was adorable but by now Maggie was immune. She had learned the hard way, when movie night with both Danvers sisters had turned into the literal hunger games.

“Danvers and then Sawyer would be so much better.” Alex reasoned.

“Says who?” Maggie challenged.

“I do.”

“Well, you’re not objective.”

“Winn!” Alex yelled. 

Winn stopped his animated discussion with Kara about where James should place the very heavy side table and they both walked over. James seemed grateful for the break and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

“Winn, what name should be first Danvers or Sawyer?” Alex asked without preamble, pointing her index finger at him threateningly.

“I, um, I-,“ he stuttered, looking back and forth between them helplessly.

“Well?” Alex urged.

He took a deep breath and mumbled something to himself and then started shaking his head furiously. “No, no, no! I love you guys, but you have got to stop making me choose sides. It’s terrible,” he whined.

“Does it really matter?” Kara interjected petting Winn on the shoulder.

“I mean, you could just pick a combination of both your names, like,” she contemplated for a moment, “Sanvers or something.”

Maggie looked at Alex, who seemed to consider for a while and then burst out laughing. “Absolutely not!”

“No way, we want to be taken seriously, Kara.” Maggie agreed.

“Whatever,” Kara huffed annoyed. James chuckled and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. “But stop torturing poor Winn.”

“Well, how about this?” James reached into his pocket and then held up a shiny new quarter. “We toss a coin.”

“Heads,” Alex yelled.

“Tails, I guess.”

James flipped the quarter up, caught it and covered it with his palm. All eyes were on him.

“Well, what is it?” Kara wanted to know.

“Tails!” He exclaimed. “Maggie gets to keep the sign.”

“Whatever.” Alex scowled.

“Oh, come on, it doesn’t look that bad.” Maggie hugged Alex from behind standing on her toes to place her chin on Alex’s shoulder.

“I guess not. But you better make up for it,” she dared her, turning her head to place a light kiss on Maggie’s lips.

“I have no objection to that, counselor.” Maggie chuckled.

“Sawyer & Danvers - Attorneys at Law,” Alex read the sign aloud. “Who would’ve thought?” She smiled and gave Maggie another kiss.

“Yeah.” Maggie felt like a fool grinning at how stupidly happy she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and happy Valentine's Day to all of you.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m also on Twitter as @thusspokebianca, if you wanna chat.


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